


Semper Amare

by mansikka



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Honeymoon, Immortal Alec Lightwood, Learning New Magic Skills, M/M, Magic, Memories, POV Magnus Bane, Smut, Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-26
Updated: 2018-08-26
Packaged: 2019-06-23 07:21:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 29,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15601218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mansikka/pseuds/mansikka
Summary: Magnus and Alec just got married, and the final ritual to make Alec immortal has gone off without a hitch. It's time for a three-month-long honeymoon; join Alec and Magnus as they indulge in nothing but themselves and new locations, as Alec begins to get used to his magic, and Magnus shares some memories of his past.





	1. Boston & Kaupoa Beach

**Author's Note:**

> Hello :)
> 
> Here is our offering for the Malec Big Bang: brace yourself for fluff, smut, and more fluff besides!
> 
> Thanks go to the amazing @toughpaperround for beta-ing - I'm very sorry about the horseradish! Thanks also go to @aurielsh for beautiful cover art. 
> 
> Happy reading! <3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>   
> 
> 
>   
> 
> 
> * * *

Their bags are packed on the edge of the bed, and Magnus takes one final spin on his heel to survey the hotel room, making sure nothing will be left behind. It's been a beautiful start to their honeymoon; two days where they have indulged in nothing but each other, and barely leaving the room for anything but food. But he's excited to be leaving now, feeling like this is when their vacation truly starts.

Magnus is mesmerized by his wedding ring. For all the things that generally adorn his fingers this one that says he belongs somewhere and to someone feels heavier, gleams brighter than anything he's known before. His thumb runs over the back of it, the weight of it pressing into his skin. Magnus knows already, even though he's only worn it for a stretch of time that can still be counted in hours, that it's going to comfort him whatever he's doing, and whenever he's alone.

Not that he's ever going to really be alone again, of course, Magnus thinks to himself with an unconsciously wide smile. Marriage means never being alone again, and even more so with Alec. That he's chosen immortality Magnus knows isn't just about being with _him_ , but it's still the greatest gift Alec could ever have given him. He's determined to find ways to give him just about everything possible back.

Magnus turns again, making his way over to the small balcony of their hotel room, coming to an immediate stop in the doorway from where he watches Alec stood outside. His hand is raised palm up and he's watching the wispy puffs of white magic beginning to rise and tumble from it in fascination. Magnus' heart skips for the way he plays with it, flexing and wriggling his fingers to see what shapes the movements create. Alec looks _pleased_ to have magic, Magnus realizes, seeing not a single doubt or regret on Alec's face at all.

"Is it weird this doesn't feel weird to me?" Alec asks without looking up, and Magnus smiles again for Alec already knowing he's watching him.

"What do you mean?"

"Well. It already feels a part of me. It _is_ a part of me," Alec says, slowly raising his head and smiling, flaring his fingers a little more in the way he's learned will make his magic pulse.

"Did you expect it to feel any different?" Magnus asks, curious, even though they have spoken of both of their expectations about this so many times before.

"I thought it'd take time to get used to having it. I mean, I know it's going to take a long while for me to be able to _do_ anything with it, but it's… this is _me_."

Magnus watches the puff of magic Alec is practically bouncing in his hand and smiles, closing the gap between them and slotting their hands together.

"It _is_ you."

"This is me too," Alec says, turning their hands over so he can swirl a thumb over Magnus' wedding band. " _This_ is us."

"It is," Magnus agrees as he repeats the action on Alec's hand.

They turn then, fingers raised and slotting together, and smiling so hard at one another Magnus feels like he might never stop. Excitement flares in his stomach in waves, it's almost like he forgets just how lucky he is for a few seconds before he's reminded of it, and then that fluttery feeling starts all over again.

Magnus turns to glance out over the view from their balcony and breathes deep, watching the rippling reflection of the Boston skyline in the Charles River. It's almost a pity they haven't taken the time to explore. Magnus makes a promise to them both that they will come back to visit again sometime soon. But there are so many places they want to visit over the next three months, so many cities and landscapes he can't wait to share with Alec. And now, they really do have all the time in the world to explore everything together. Magnus' heart thuds in excitement for the thought, for all their adventures both planned and unplanned.

"So, Alexander. Are you ready to begin our honeymoon?"

Alec nods and drops Magnus' hands, gripping lightly around his waist instead of making any effort to go inside. He smiles when he tugs Magnus close enough to bump against his chest and leans in for a kiss. "Yeah."

"How many times do you think I can introduce you as my _husband_ before I can say it without my voice catching for it?" Magnus asks, sure he can hear his voice hitch every time he tries to get the word out of his mouth.

"You wanna know many hours I spent practicing writing my name as _Lightwood-Bane_ before the wedding?" Alec counters, smiling even harder. "My trash can is filled with screwed up balls of paper that I was _supposed_ to be working on."

"Oh, you should see all the notes on the desk in my apothecary doing exactly that myself."

Alec raises his hands and cups Magnus' face, smiling so much he can't even kiss him properly for it and instead pulls him into a hug. "So. Maybe in a century or something, we'll both get used to all this? The names, and… all of that?"

"Perhaps two," Magnus suggests, smoothing his hands down Alec's back and tucking into his neck, breathing him in.

"I'm gonna have to get better at buying gifts," Alec mutters into his shoulder. "We've got… so many wedding anniversaries ahead."

"Alexander. Your gifts are already perfect."

"Then, I guess I'm gonna just have to get more creative," Alec says as he pulls back, a glint in his eye that Magnus knows he's going to have to ignore for now if they are ever going to leave this hotel room.

"I look forward to every moment of it," Magnus tells him, thinking it might be a little longer than two centuries before he can let himself believe his luck.

* * *

"With gin."

Magnus stops at both Alec's words and his fingers reaching out to tug on his shorts in passing, turning back to him to lean down for a kiss.

"Of course," he says, stepping a little closer as Alec reaches up and sweeps his hands over his chest, before cupping the nape of his neck to pull him in for another.

Alec smiles against his lips and smiles again when Magnus straightens back up, stretching out on his sun lounger with a contented sigh that follows Magnus inside. Magnus takes a little time preparing their cocktails, looking out over the view beyond their window to the sprawling, empty beach as he mixes them, and makes vague plans about exploring it later in the afternoon.

This idyllic stretch of the Kaupoa Beach was their first choice of locations for their honeymoon to enjoy at least a week or two away from everyone and everything, and this beach house perfect. In fact, Magnus is half-tempted to put in an offer to buy the house, only talking himself out of it for knowing he's probably going to feel like this about every place they go to on this extended break.

Though Alec loves it here just as much, he's sure of it. Magnus has watched him stare out over the beach with a soft smile on his face and known his own joy for seeing Alec so at peace. He smiles at the thought of them making this beach house their own, can almost picture the perfect spot towards the side of it where he would practice his magic, listening to the waves as they lap against the sand. Magnus decides he might broach the subject of buying a holiday home for them somewhere so they always have a place to come to that is just theirs.

"I could stay here forever," Alec says as Magnus rejoins him, taking the extended glass from his hand with a mumbled _thanks_.

"Well. technically, we could."

"But I also want to see everywhere else as well," Alec adds, taking a sip of his drink and humming in approval of the taste.

"We can do that too."

"You really plan on trying to give me everything, don't you?" Alec asks, sitting up suddenly and spinning so he's facing Magnus.

"Is that not one of the perks of having a husband to spoil?"

"I guess it is."

"It is nice to be able to indulge in things purely for another person's happiness," Magnus tells him, smiling as Alec shifts just enough to fit Magnus' knees between his own and squeezing them there.

He's already tugged Magnus' sun lounger closer to his with a disgruntled grumble about him being too far away, and there seems to barely have been a moment since they got here when Alec has been able to keep his hands off him. Not that Magnus is complaining or is any better himself; he's already put his glass down on the floor and slid his hands up Alec's thighs, and is now leaning across the small gap between them for further kisses.

"C'mre," Alec mumbles against him, holding out his hand for Magnus to grasp so he knows not to go anywhere, then reaching with the other to raise the back of his sun lounger up. "Sit here."

Magnus stands and watches Alec shuffle back, swinging his feet either side of the lounger and patting the space between his thighs. Magnus lowers and arranges himself in Alec's arms, settling back against him and reaching for their drinks as Alec holds him steady with a light grip around his waist.

"We should swim later," Alec says, resting one hand on Magnus' stomach as he takes a sip of his drink then presses a kiss to his shoulder, sighing in contentment again.

"We should. Not yet though."

"No," Alec agrees with a trail of kisses up the side of his neck before squeezing him and dropping their heads together, "no, not yet."

* * *

There had been a time when Magnus had presumed Alec's lack of experience would leave him shy, in all sorts of ways that he'd smiled at for imagining. Maybe Alec would never just assume he was staying over unless Magnus specifically invited him, or perhaps he'd be cautious when they first saw each other naked, or would be nervous about asking to borrow clothes.

Alec has never been any of those things. Frequently wandering through the apartment first thing in the morning wearing nothing at all until an unfortunately timed visit from Catarina had sent him scampering back to their room trying to cover all of himself at once. And Magnus has lost count of the times he's walked in to find Alec going through his closet looking for something he wants to wear.

It's not as though he doesn't borrow Alec's clothes, Magnus thinks, looking down at the t-shirt he's wearing with a pair of Alec's boxers as he cooks them something for lunch. And he's not exactly held back about being naked in front of Alec either. But as Alec returns from the beach with his hair trailing rivulets of water over his bare skin after going for a swim, Magnus thinks Alec might have more of an affinity with nudity than he ever has.

"Well, hello," he greets as Alec walks into the kitchen towel drying his hair despite the rest of him still being wet.

"Hey. You should've come with. The water's perfect."

"Next time," Magnus promises, accepting the kiss Alec leans in for. "I needed a little more sleep."

"I'd apologize about that, but…"

Alec's words trail off as he turns away and opens the fridge, muttering to himself about wanting something to drink. He pulls out a carton of juice that he pours them both a glass of, then leans back against the counter as Magnus cooks. And, Magnus thinks, completely at ease to be stood there naked even as he watches the oil spit from the pan.

Magnus snorts for the look Alec is giving him, thinking of their lazy evening with books, wine, and pillows on the decking that turned into something a little more energetic. Alec's knees are still a little raw from it, Magnus realizes as he leans back to check, and the slight ache he feels when moving is another good reminder of how they'd spent last night. Good enough to have him beginning to thicken in those borrowed boxers, and having to adjust himself as he cooks.

"You okay there?" Alec teases as he watches him, reaching out himself to feel out the shape of him as Magnus continues to try to cook.

"Well. I _was_ ," he says, resting his hands on either side of the stove and watching Alec's hand on him. "Something has got me a little distracted, however."

"Only a little?" Alec asks, adjusting his grip and swirling a thumb over his head through the fabric, and smiling at Magnus' answering hum.

Lunch is practically done, and now it's cooked through, there's no reason they can't eat it cold. Magnus turns off the heat and crowds Alec back against the counter, smiling at the little tilt of his chin Alec always gives that is smug, and says he knows he's about to get exactly what he wants. Magnus trails his fingers down Alec's chest then wraps his hand around his length, mouthing up Alec's neck just hard enough to let it mark as he gives him a lazy stroke.

"Maybe a little more than a little distracted," Magnus mumbles just beneath his jaw, turning away only to quickly rid himself of his clothes that he abandons right there on the kitchen floor before he's pressing up against Alec again.

"Then, we should do something about that," Alec teases, but his words fade into a groan for Magnus grabbing his hips and beginning to rut against him, before pulling back without warning to take his hand and lead him outside.

"Since you've become something of an exhibitionist," Magnus teases, crowding up against Alec on the decking.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Alec retorts, sliding his hands down Magnus' back to grab his ass.

Magnus does the same, molding his hands over his cheeks before pulling them apart and pressing an insistent finger against Alec's hole. Alec groans for it, tilting his hips back a fraction, and Magnus uses the additional space between them to drop his hand and grip around them both. Alec cradles the back of Magnus' head to keep him where he wants for a kiss as he slots his fingers between Magnus', humming as they thicken together.

"We have such a beautiful view here," Magnus says as he tries to concentrate on both the tight grip he's rolling himself into and working his fingers into Alec.

"We do," Alec agrees, laughing softly as a swirl of his thumb over Magnus' cock head makes him shudder, pulling back just enough to watch his face as he does it again.

There is a railing around the edge of their beach house terrace that Magnus backs them towards, then presses Alec's hands around. He strokes his hands over Alec's back to encourage him to bend forward, guiding his hips to the angle he wants him. Magnus rolls himself between Alec's cheeks, smiling for Alec tilting back in encouragement. Then snaps his fingers to slick them, and takes a little time to open him up.

Alec hums through every brush of fingertip over his prostate, and gasps for more when Magnus scissors his fingers apart. And then he's looking back over his shoulder with an expression that makes Magnus' cock jolt. He slides his fingers into him a final time then nods in agreement, and leans forward for a kiss.

Magnus holds him open, watching himself slide into Alec with a light grip around his hips to keep him in place. Then drapes himself over his back and slots his fingers through Alec's against the railing, driving into him unhurried and groaning for every time Alec rocks back.

Alec adjusts his feet a little stepping wider apart and dropping his height, the angle change making them both call out for how good it feels. Magnus mouths over the back of his neck and presses a kiss between his shoulder blades, spreading his fingers wider for a better grip. He listens to the sounds Alec is making, monitoring every gasp and groan with every unhurried slide into him, watching the rolling waves as they sweep up the beach. Thinking it's the perfect way to start their afternoon.

* * *

"So, like this?"

Magnus nods at Alec's question, reaching out to gently grip his wrist and angle his fingers so they're further apart.

"Yes. Exactly like that."

They both watch in fascination as soft plumes of white magic lift from his palm at the pulsing of his fingers. The magic isn't prominent yet, and Magnus can't tell just how long it will be before Alec can do anything with his magic besides forming shapes. But Alec has always been determined, always focused on the task at hand; if anyone is going to get used to his magic quickly when it is still so new to him, then it's Alec.

"Magnus. When you first knew you had magic—when you first _saw_ you had magic. What did you do? How did it feel?"

Magnus thinks back to the balls of magic he used to play with between his palms, the way he'd thought it was all in his imagination as a child. He remembers laughter, and dancing, lights he conjured when playing with his mother before she realized what their presence meant. Magnus chooses to think of the happier things before _that_ happened, and shakes his head with a smile.

"I suppose I never knew any different," he says, holding on to one particularly cherished memory of his mother singing, the two of them dancing in the heat of a summer downpour as a blast of his magic made the rain fall around them in shimmering colors. "It was always there."

"So, it wasn't like you woke up one day and just _had_ this?" Alec asks, smiling as Magnus strokes over the back of his hand to slot his fingers through, angling his magic into a sharper point.

"If it was, then it is a very long time since it happened. And I don't remember it like that at all."

Alec hums as Magnus wraps an arm around his middle, still angling his hand to pull it back and pulse forward in short stabs that make his magic flow out in ribbons. "And it didn't… it didn't just get stronger? Or more… I don't know what I'm asking, actually."

"You are asking," Magnus says with a kiss between his shoulder blades, "if there is any kind of pattern to what you are to expect—anything you could be looking out for—with your own magic"

"I guess."

"Then, I have no idea. You are the first _new_ warlock I have ever come across."

"I'm a first for you?" Alec asks with an obvious smile in his voice as he drags Magnus' hand closer, cutting off his magic in a tight hug.

"You are a first many things for me, Alexander. Something I am sure I've told you numerous times before."

"I like the sound of that," Alec says, leaning against Magnus with a soft sigh as he tilts his head back.

Magnus wants to say he's not only a _first_ , but he's also an _only_ for so many things for him at well, though doesn't think he'll get the words out right. So he does nothing but press further kisses over Alec's shoulders before pressing his cheek there and watching the sun setting off to their side.

"And I'll… one day, I'll be able to do everything you can do?" Alec asks, nudging against him so Magnus knows to drop his grip, and then turning in his arms. "Or is that… is your magic different, because of Asmodeus?"

"There is some magic that I owe purely to him, that I doubt many others will share. But much of what I can do on a daily basis, you will be able to do as well."

"Like portals?"

"Like portals," Magnus agrees, smiling as Alec begins to sway him in his arms and starts to turn them in a small circle, churning up the sand beneath their feet in the process.

"So. One day," Alec says, leaning in for a kiss, "I'll be able to wake you up and say, _hey, Magnus. I'm taking you somewhere today._ And we'll be able to just… go?"

"Well. With a little practice. And perhaps not starting out with anything too ambitious."

"So. Starting with maybe _home_ to like… Central Park, instead of… Parque Güell, in Barcelona, or something?"

"Not the first time, perhaps."

"Izzy and I used to play in one of the gardens there when Mom and Dad were in the city for meetings," Alec tells him, sweeping his hands over Magnus' back.

Magnus smiles for the image that gives him of the Lightwood siblings, letting his mind run away with ideas of their own children someday, but holding it in; despite this being one of so many things they've already spoken about at length.

"You will be able to take me anywhere you want to."

"I'm gonna have to find all the places you haven't been yet," Alec replies, and from the look on his face he is already pulling up a mental map of places they could go.

"Alec. There are so many places I am yet to see. And so many places that I have seen but that will now look totally different."

Alec smiles, knowing he's being placated, and leans in to nuzzle at his cheek. "I'm still sure I can surprise you."

"You always do," Magnus replies, sweeping his hands up Alec's chest to drape his arms over his shoulders, and leaning in for another kiss.

* * *


	2. Villefranche

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>   
> 
> 
> * * *

When they step through their portal on to the terrace of an apartment in Villefranche that they'll be staying in for the next two weeks, Alec's hands are immediately up to shield his eyes from the overhead sun.

"It's… warm," he says as the portal closes behind them, dropping his bag down on the floor as he takes in the view.

"Far warmer than I expected," Magnus agrees, snapping his fingers for shades for them both. "I suppose it gives us an excuse to try the swimming pool sooner rather than later."

Alec follows the point of his finger and laughs at the rippling water, already kicking his shoes off. "Yeah, how about right now?"

Magnus snaps his fingers again to send their bags inside, then steps towards Alec and reaches out to begin to lift off his shirt. "We should apply sunblock first."

Alec holds out his palm and smiles when a bottle of spray appears in his hand. He twirls his fingers gesturing for Magnus to turn around, pulling his shirt off in one quick tug as soon as he stops moving, then sprays him liberally and makes work of rubbing the sunblock in.

"Turn," he says, nudging against Magnus' shoulder, and nodding in approval as he holds up his arms to be sprayed as well.

"Your turn," Magnus tells him with a nod, his eyes taking in the runes covering Alec's body that already look dormant, and takes his time to apply the sunblock to him as well.

"Can we drink something?"

Magnus nods towards the pool, and Alec walks over it after stripping. He carefully sits on the edge of it mumbling about the heat, dropping his feet into the water and splashing them around. Magnus conjures a jug of iced lemonade that he puts on the floor as he strips himself, then snaps his fingers for two glasses and picks the jug back up again to pour. Alec takes a glass from Magnus' fingers and drinks it almost in one gulp, sliding it to the side in a request for more, and nodding.

"That's better."

"I'm glad I chose something without any alcohol," Magnus teases as he sits to join him, realizing how thirsty he is as well and pouring them both another glass.

This sunblock isn't going to last long in this heat, Magnus thinks, as he lifts his arm to inspect it. Instead, he conjures a long, deep-blue shade that hovers in the air blocking sunlight from the pool, yet still gives them the spectacular views they chose this apartment for.

There are soft, rounded mountains in the distance that shimmer in the heat, and a sprawling city stretching over to their left. The harbor in front of him is where Magnus intends for them to rent a boat from in the morning so they can explore the sea that extends off to the right.

"Gonna swim?" Alec says once he's finished drinking, lowering himself into the water and reaching out to grip Magnus around the waist.

"I am."

"Maybe in a minute though, huh?" Alec adds, splaying his hands wide at the tops of Magnus' thighs and sliding them down to grip at his knees, gently nudging them apart. He belatedly takes off the shades Magnus summoned for them and nods for Magnus to take his off as well.

"You have something else in mind?"

"I do," Alec agrees, bending down to kiss Magnus' stomach, and working a path along his cock.

Magnus splays his legs a little wider, Alec's kisses beginning to make him thicken, intent on watching every moment it. Magnus plays with Alec's hair as he laps and kisses over him, blasting out soft groans for the long lick up his length, the grip around his base as Alec lifts him, taking his head into his mouth.

Alec squeezes and tugs him to hardness in between sucking him into his mouth, humming with an obvious smirk on his face as he finally looks up.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" Magnus asks, his voice croaky enough to show how much _he's_ enjoying this. Tight coils of pleasure are rippling through his stomach, and it feels impossible to keep completely still.

"I'd enjoy it even more if you laid back a little," Alec replies once he pulls off him with a deliberately slow drag up his length that Magnus swallows hard for.

Magnus smiles, snapping his fingers for pillows to support his back and head, then leans back from the pool and raises his feet to hook over the edge of it. His stomach ripples for how bare he is here, how exposed; something Alec seems to be enjoying the sight of, for the way he lingers a gaze over the way Magnus is now spread out.

Alec strokes his hands up his inner thighs nudging them a little further apart, then sweeps them down over his cheeks to thumb him open. Magnus groans and tries to arch up at the kiss pressed over his hole, the lap the follows, and the warm, wide lick Alec gives him as he presses down with his palms to keep him in place.

Magnus stutters for every dart of tongue against him, the finger slipped into him to open him up, and the angle of Alec's fingertip deep inside. He grips hard to his thighs holding himself open and steady for Alec, who looks up every few licks looking so pleased with himself, Magnus can't help but smile. Though those smiles quickly give way to groans and cries out as Alec continues to tease him with his fingers and tongue, leaving Magnus writhing on his fingers when he slips them back into him and once again takes his cock into his mouth.

"Alec," he manages to call out, though everything else that falls from his lips by this point is incoherent, the heated pleasure rolling through him taking away any attempts to make any sense.

The heat building in his gut is searing, breath panting out in sharp blasts the closer he gets to coming, and arching into Alec's mouth when he does just minutes later.

"That's got to be a record," Alec teases, kissing it into his thigh as Magnus composes himself, one hand pressed over his heart feeling how hard it's racing.

Magnus groans, lifting his head up to raise an indignant though tired eyebrow at him, but doesn't comment.

"Still gonna swim with me?" Alec adds, tugging gently on his waist.

"I—"

Alec pulls him into the water and holds him up against the side of the pool, pressing kisses into his neck and throat before claiming his mouth. "Yes, Magnus?"

Magnus winces for the slight sting of the water that hits him, though waves away Alec's immediate apologies, wrapping his arms around his waist as Alec presses kisses into his neck.

"Are you okay?" he asks, the picture of contrition, one hand pressed over his ass and squeezing.

"Alec," Magnus says with a soft laugh, "I'm fine."

"You're sure?"

"I'm sure," Magnus tells him with a kiss that Alec melts into, and pulls away from with a sigh. "Now. Don't you need to—"

"Later," Alec says, knocking his hand away as he reaches for him and shaking his head. "Not like we don't have time."

"True."

Alec smiles, hooking his elbows over Magnus' shoulders and leaning in for a final kiss before he turns away from him and starts to swim.

* * *

"Magnus, look!"

Magnus runs through the apartment for the excitement in Alec's voice, finding him on the balcony that runs alongside their bedroom. His back is to him, but from the way he's standing Magnus is sure this excitement is something related to his magic. When he walks around him it's to find that thin, wispy magic of Alec's he's sort of become accustomed to flaring up more prominently, and laced with shades of blue.

"That's _good_ , Alexander."

"Can I do anything with it?"

"You tell me," Magnus replies, smiling at the pleased look on Alec's face when he finally looks up.

"Uh…"

Magnus watches Alec look around them before nodding towards a mug on the table from their morning coffee.

"What are you thinking?" he asks as Alec's eyes narrow in concentration.

"I don't know. Maybe I can move it? Or… could I summon it? Like… bring it here?"

"Try," Magnus urges, stepping back in case the mug comes flying towards him. He holds his breath, watching Alec raise and move his hand a little, and the mug begin to rattle as it moves.

"Magnus—"

The mug comes whizzing towards them, with Alec reaching out to grab the mug before it can go over the side of the balcony, bringing it back and smiling at Magnus in such triumph, that it's infectious.

"Look what you did!" Magnus says as he rushes towards him, squeezing around his hips.

Alec laughs as he holds the mug up to inspect it, then leans in for a hard kiss. "I did it!"

"You certainly did."

"I mean, it's not all _that_ impressive, but—"

"It's impressive enough for a first attempt. Especially as you have only had this magic a matter of weeks."

"And it's… you said it's normal that it can take its time coming through, right?" Alec asks, raising up his palm and pulling his head back sharply when magic a more prominent blue comes shooting from his hand.

"Of course. That, and we are not exactly trying very hard to make it bolder."

"Meaning?"

"Well. We could dedicate some time to training your magic," Magnus suggests, wrapping his arms around Alec's waist. "But since we're also supposed to—"

"Our honeymoon is more important than that," Alec finishes for him, looping his arms over his shoulders and nuzzling against his cheek.

"Still. This is excellent progress, Alexander."

Alec hums noncommittally, and Magnus drops his head on Alec's shoulder feeling his arms moving behind him, smiling at the laughter bursting from Alec a moment later before he's pulling back. He's holding a book that Magnus thinks was on the couch, and as Magnus watches Alec throws the book in the air, using his magic to keep it up.

"Look at that," Alec calls out in delight, experimenting with making it go higher and lower, then ducking as an ambitious flourish sends it shooting over the top of his head.

"Amazing."

"I mean, it's nothing like you can do," Alec says as he grabs the book and stares at it in slight disbelief.

"Alexander. You will have to believe me when I tell you, you are doing just fine."

"And I… can't exactly compete with the magic of a son of a Prince of Hell," Alec teases with a glint in his eye as he looks up.

"Alec—"

"Though, I guess that does make him my _father-in-law_ ," Alec adds, looking slightly less teasing. Magnus wraps an arm around his waist and pulls him into his side.

"Which also means that Robert and Maryse Lightwood are _my_ in-laws."

"True."

"And… I'm related to _Jace_ ," Magnus adds, pressing a hand to his chest and pretending to be horrified for the prospect. Alec throws back his head and laughs.

"You forgot Izzy and Max there."

"No, I didn't. I am more than happy to be related to both of _them_."

"My mother adores you," Alec points out as he turns Magnus to hold in his arms again.

"Well. I am adorable."

"Yeah. You are."

"I suppose being connected with _some_ of the Lightwoods is not too awful," Magnus says as he pretends to contemplate the idea, intending to keep it up for the smirk on Alec's face.

"Some of us, huh?"

"Yes."

"I think, all of my family, is a fair exchange for Asmodeus as an in-law."

"I am glad that you can openly admit that your family is so troublesome," Magnus retorts, smiling at Alec's snort.

"Well. I guess your dad _calls_ us less."

"Exactly. I don't like to think how many messages and calls the two of us have had between us from them all since leaving."

Alec opens his mouth to protest but then closes it again, and gives a disinterested shrug. "Well. Magnus, they're not here now. And they're not _calling_ right now."

"You're quite right," Magnus agrees, sliding his hands down Alec's back to rest on his ass. "What should we do with ourselves?"

Alec smiles against his lips and crowds up against him, sneaking his fingers beneath his shirt. "I have a few ideas."

* * *

"You want some more of this?"

Magnus looks down at the tap against his thigh then up at the bottle of wine Alec is waving, smiling at him when he fully cracks open his eyes.

"Are you sure you want to drink more of this here?" he asks, holding out his hand when Alec reaches for it and hoisting him up to sit beside him.

Their boat rocks a little for the sudden movement, and Alec's hand flies out to grip the side of it, laughter erupting from his mouth.

"Sure. It's good wine."

"And you aren't feeling nauseous with all this… moving?" Magnus checks, watching Alec reach behind them into their cooler and pull out a second bottle.

"Magnus. Are you telling me, that after portaling all over the world at a moment's notice for… _centuries_ , a little time out here on the water is making you seasick?"

"Not at all," Magnus replies in reproach to Alec's teasing, and as he expected his tone would invite, gets a kiss for it. "I was only checking that you were okay. You told me you have never spent much time on a boat."

"Not really much need for boats in Idris—or in New York. And until _you_ , I didn't ever go anywhere else."

Magnus both loves that it is him who gets the joy of showing Alec so many of the things in this world he hasn't seen, and is sad that Alec's younger life was so full of rigidity and instruction.

"Well. Then I am glad that I can be the one to broaden your horizons," Magnus replies, watching as Alec opens the wine bottle, and reaching for their glasses to hold out while Alec pours.

"Maybe for one or two things," Alec says, and because he knows Magnus will smile for it, winks.

Perhaps it's the wine, perhaps it's seeing Alec so open and totally at ease with himself, but Alec's wink makes Magnus throw his head back in raucous laughter, almost spilling his wine in the process.

"You okay there?" Alec says as he reaches out and squeezes around his thigh.

Magnus covers Alec's hand with his own to squeeze, and nods.

"It's beautiful here," Alec adds as he shuffles closer to him, slotting the bottle back in the cooler so it doesn't spill and throwing an arm loosely around his waist.

Magnus has to agree. They turned off the engine of this small boat about a half hour ago, and have been bobbing here watching the water shimmer as they lazily drift ever since. Magnus has been watching, anyway, since Alec decided to lay down and take up almost the entire space they have on the boat. But now that he's upright again his eyes are out on the horizon in interest, and Magnus knows from the way he jostles against his arm that he wants to point something out.

"You think we can go over there?"

"Towards the rocks there? I suppose we could, if we don't get too close."

Magnus grabs the edge of the boat as Alec stands suddenly to make his way over to start the engine up again. Maybe they're both a little drunk, Magnus thinks, as he stands to join him and almost lurches to the side in the process.

"Now who's had too much to drink?" Alec teases as he reaches out to steady him, guiding Magnus to wrap his arms around his waist from behind.

Magnus kisses him on the shoulder but doesn't answer, bracing as Alec slowly turns the boat around and makes his way over to the rocks he just pointed out. As with so many things they've already experienced on this honeymoon, Magnus toys with the idea of them getting a boat of their own. Something a little more stable than _this_ one, he thinks, much preferring the powerboat they'd taken on their first day of exploring the sea around here.

"What was it you wanted to look at?" Magnus asks as they draw closer and the rocks loom up before them.

"Nothing. I just wanted to see."

The rocks in question are a small slab of the limestone that is probably an extension of the cliffs beyond it. Magnus watches the point of Alec's finger as he brings the boat to a stop a few feet away.

"Tell me that doesn't look like a rune to you," Alec says, waving his hand towards part of the rock face that Magnus tries and fails to focus on.

"Where?"

"Just there," Alec insists, and to help Magnus see what it is he is looking at, grabs his hand and points his fingers for him. "Tell me that's not the rune for _stealth_."

"Well, Alexander. I think your experience with angelic runes might be better than mine. All I'm seeing is a lot of possible lines."

Magnus hides his snort in Alec's shoulder for the indignant huff his answer earns him, pulling away to sip at the wine glass he's half-forgotten he has in his hand.

"Where'd I leave my drink?" Alec says then as he turns a little too quickly, and Magnus holds his hand out to keep him upright as the boat yet again lurches.

Magnus steps back the tiny amount of space they have and picks up Alec's glass where he abandoned it, pushing it into his hand. Then snaps his fingers once, and sees Alec's eyes immediately clear, his own head feeling less fuzzy. He laughs for the confusion on Alec's face as he looks first at his glass then back up to him, his expression becoming embarrassed as he reaches out for his hand.

"We got through that bottle fast," he says, nudging Magnus back and gesturing for him to sit.

"We did. And I'll be a little more comfortable if we move a little further from these rocks."

Alec nods, stepping to the side as Magnus gestures for the wheel, and sitting down as Magnus steers the boat away.

"You ever been on a cruise, Magnus?"

"A few, yes."

"Any in particular you liked?"

Magnus thinks about Alec's question as he moves them closer to the shore, turning the engine off again once he's happy they have room to drift. "There was a cruise around the Caribbean I remember enjoying. Perhaps a little too much."

"Oh?" Alec asks, smiling as Magnus sits down beside him.

"A little too much rum. A lot of it," Magnus amends, shuddering when the memories of dancing, and laughter, are replaced with how ill he'd felt the next morning for some of the days.

"Maybe we can do that," Alec says, sipping at his wine in thought, smiling as he waves to a family on a boat that is sailing away from them, two small children in bright life jackets clinging to the side and waving back.

"Drink too much rum?"

"Well. If we want," Alec replies, laughing, "but I meant a cruise."

"While we are here?"

"No," Alec says, kissing his shoulder, "I meant some time later. Another vacation some time."

Magnus squeezes his eyes shut, remembering when he'd first met Alec how he'd had to fight to get him to take even an entire evening off. But then his mind is filled with images of he and Alec in the middle of the ocean somewhere, and already he can't wait for it.

"We'll add it to the list of things we want to do," Magnus tells him, squeezing over his knee.

* * *


	3. Venice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>  
> 
>   
> 
> 
> * * *

It's evening now, but the air is still thick with the heat of the day. They have spent this first day in Venice lazing around the house that will be their home for the next couple of weeks of their vacation, too tired to do much of anything else at all. Now that they have had a little time to rest they have decided to come out for dinner. A blissful breeze whips up around them every few minutes as they make their way through the town hand in hand, looking for somewhere to eat.

"It's busy," Alec says, nodding towards a crowded bar that is spilling out onto the street and its terrace.

It _is_ busy, Magnus thinks as he looks, with laughter and easy conversation to be heard everywhere they pass, and a happy relaxed atmosphere that is exactly what honeymoons are made of.

"What do you think?" Magnus says, nodding towards a smaller bar a little further up. He's chosen it because the table he has his eye on is raised just enough for them to sit comfortably and people watch together.

"Perfect," Alec agrees, squeezing his hand and pulling him in for a kiss.

They make their way to the table and are joined immediately by an enthusiastic waiter, who first is enthralled as Magnus answers him in Italian, and second is practically effervescent with excitement when he adds that they are newlyweds.

"We need to do that every place we go to," Alec says as he squeezes his leg beneath the table, knocking back his glass of complimentary champagne.

"It's served us well so far," Magnus agrees. "Who knew there were so many perks to being married?"

"Aside from all the obvious ones?" Alec retorts with an amused raise of eyebrow.

"Aside from those, yes," Magnus replies, leaning in for a kiss.

"So this is… how long have we been away now?"

"Coming up to a month."

"That's both quick, and not quick at all," Alec says, nodding to the waiter as he returns with their ordered drinks.

"It is. And we still have two more months to go."

"We can be really, really selfish if we want, and just… take off for any length of time, any time we want. In the future, obviously," Alec adds as he plays with Magnus' fingers against his thigh.

"I once took a vacation for approximately a decade," Magnus replies, a few sweet memories rising to the surface, only to be replaced by the thought of all the memories he'll now get to make with Alec.

"We could do that. Not now, obviously. But… we could."

"We can do anything you want, Alexander," Magnus tells him, pledging to himself yet again that he will do everything within his power to give Alec everything he wants.

* * *

"Quick!"

Magnus laughs at Alec's outburst, both of them trying to shield themselves from the onslaught of rain as they stand in the doorway of the house they've rented, trying to find the key.

"Did I have it?" Alec asks, grabbing his hand when they can't find it.

"I hope so."

"Then, where is it?" Alec laughs, blinking and trying to flick hair back from his eyes, patting down his pockets that squelch with how soaked through he already is.

"Got it," Magnus says, belatedly spotting the outline of the key in Alec's shirt pocket, cramming it in the lock as soon as possible sending them both tumbling through the door.

"Urgh," Alec announces as they skid and slip to a stop, kicking off their flip-flops and tiptoeing through to the bathroom to avoid dripping even more water everywhere.

"Well. That was unexpected."

"Yeah," Alec agrees with a huff, as they start to strip each other down.

He could have used magic, Magnus thinks to himself belatedly, looking at the state they are both in. There is a tussle, as shirt sleeves and pant legs get stuck to wet skin, leaving them holding one another up for laughing even as they try to strip.

"Okay. I think we need a shower," Alec says, grabbing Magnus' hand and dragging him across the bathroom, turning on the water and urging it to hurry up.

"It is a good thing we only took a bank card and our key," Magnus says as they both hold their hands out under the stream to check the temperature.

The rain had started out of nowhere, or at least had felt that way where they'd been sat. One minute they were on their terrace bar overlooking the sprawling street beneath them toying with the snacks the waiter had brought them instead of ordering any real food, and then they were running inside for cover, with Alec diving back to grab their drinks to finish on the way.

"I think I need some different flip-flops," Alec adds as he steps under the spray with a relieved hum, pulling Magnus to follow.

"Well. They aren't designed for running quite that much."

"Running? Magnus, I was almost skiing down that hill."

"It wasn't _that_ bad."

"Oh, it wasn't?" Alec counters, cutting Magnus off with a kiss before he can answer.

Magnus leans against him and lets out a sigh, the heat of the water soothing his aching muscles, thinking he might need footwear a little less slippery as well. He sweeps his hands up Alec's back, dropping his head forward as Alec begins to massage over his scalp, and sighing again as he lathers up shampoo.

"We're almost out of this again," Alec tells him as he takes his time to work it through, dropping his hands to massage over his neck and shoulders with the suds.

"I'll make some more tomorrow."

"Can you show me how to make it?"

"Of course," Magnus agrees, "this can be your first potion."

"Do I need any magic for it? Because—"

"None," Magnus assures him with a squeeze at his hips, "just patience and a few essential ingredients."

"I think I can manage that."

"Perhaps you will find another scent that you prefer," Magnus adds as he drops his head forwards, closing his eyes as Alec rinses his hair clean.

"Nope. I like smelling like you."

"Oh," Magnus says, stuck for anything else to say because of the warmth that idea surges through his chest.

"And I like sandalwood," Alec tells him, turning as Magnus guides him and tilting his head back, taking his turn to have his hair washed.

"I have to admit. It does smell very good on you."

"Same," Alec says with a soft sigh as he reaches back and squeezes over Magnus' thighs.

Magnus presses a kiss to his shoulder blade and wraps his arms around Alec's waist before reaching for the shampoo, massaging it through Alec's hair and smiling for every one of his thankful sighs.

"These rings. They're okay in the shower, right?" Alec asks suddenly, reaching out to grab Magnus' hand and squeeze over it.

Their wedding rings are thick bands of titanium, etched with _I love yous_ and their names inside. They're both simple and beautiful, chosen after careful deliberation and several visits to numerous jewelers, and the only jewelry Magnus goes to bed still wearing at night. He still adorns his fingers with all sorts of other rings throughout the day, of course, and has even convinced Alec to wear some on occasion. But his wedding ring is now a part of him that he has no intention of ever taking off again. Magnus reaches down to squeeze over Alec's and slots their fingers together.

"They are. They won't become tarnished or fade. And they are very simple to clean."

"With magic?"

"With gin, if necessary."

"What a waste of gin," Alec retorts, angling his head back as directed to wash out the last of the shampoo.

"Speaking of gin—"

"Yes."

"You didn't even hear what I was going to suggest," Magnus retorts, holding out the shower gel to squirt into Alec's hand.

"You said _gin_. That's all I needed to hear."

"But there are so many cocktails that require gin."

"We could work our way through all of them," Alec suggests, sweeping his hands up over Magnus' arms and squeezing. "Not like we haven't got the time."

"Well, we could. Though, perhaps not all in one evening."

"But we could make a start. And it's not like we need to go anywhere early tomorrow."

"True," Magnus replies, already thinking of the perfect breakfast to conjure in from a bakery they passed earlier this evening. It makes him realize he's a little hungry. "But perhaps something to eat first?"

"I could go for tapas," Alec says, squeezing his hips and leaning in for a kiss.

"Then, tapas we'll have. Now," Magnus says, wrapping his arms around Alec's waist and leaning against him. "Are we starting with a Tom Collins? Old Etonian? Moon River?"

Alec cups his face in his hand and leans in to kiss him, smiling as he pulls back. "Anything you want, Magnus."

* * *

"Sleepy," Alec mutters into the back of Magnus' ear before kissing there and sweeping a hand down his side. He continues to kiss him as he pulls Magnus' hip back to angle him how he wants him, pressing his cheeks apart as he nudges against his hole.

"Obviously not _that_ sleepy," Magnus retorts, pushing the bottle of lube they've been using to the nightstand before tilting back until Alec starts dipping into him.

"Maybe not that sleepy," Alec whispers, mouthing at his earlobe as he presses a hand to Magnus' stomach to keep him in place as he fills him, groaning when he's all the way inside.

Magnus tucks one hand beneath his pillow and tangles his other through Alec's against his stomach, clenching around him before Alec starts to move. "Maybe just… unhurried."

"Sounds good," Alec agrees, his movements languid as he slides into him, with continual kisses for his shoulder and neck.

Magnus closes his eyes, focuses on the feel of Alec inside him and the soft noises spilling from his mouth. They'd only come back from exploring the city for a quick shower to refresh themselves and to grab something to eat. But keeping their hands off one another continues to be difficult even all these weeks into their honeymoon.

Not that Magnus is complaining, of course, the swell of pleasured heat building in his gut rising suddenly to force out a groan as Alec stirs his hips and his cock head drags over his prostate.

"Good?" Alec asks, mouthing harder at his neck.

"Yes."

"Again?" he teases, moving deliberately slow and humming as Magnus lets out another moan.

"Anything you want."

"I have everything I want. Right here," Alec adds as he squeezes him, and drives into him a little deeper with a nip at his shoulder Magnus is sure will bruise.

"Me too," Magnus agrees, squeezing his hand.

This is a beautiful afternoon, Magnus thinks, smiling as a blast of breeze opens the windows of their bedroom wider, and Alec grumbles for the interruption, tucking his face into his neck. The next two days are not planned out at all, so if they decide to spend the rest of today right here in bed together like this, Magnus will have no complaints.

Alec squeezes his hand again to let him know he's letting go, then splays it wide at Magnus' hip, stroking all the way up to grab behind his knee. He lifts and holds it up, rolling into him at a deeper, harder angle, and Magnus' fingers dig into the sheets for the aching pleasure it jolts through him. Alec's growled out obscenity spirals another flare of heat through him, and Magnus angles his head back just enough to catch a glimpse of his face.

Alec catches him doing it, rolling Magnus over on to his front still buried in him and growling further words into his ear as he drives into him. Magnus angles back to meet him, the friction of the sheets against his cock leaving him writhing. Alec hums for it, a harder bite to his neck that he kisses over in apology, confirming to Magnus that it definitely will bruise.

Not that Magnus minds in the slightest; he's sucked bruises into Alec's hips and throat that he caught Alec admiring in the mirror several times. That they are free here to do whatever they please to one another without smirks of amusement or lingered gazes for the occasions they get carried away is one of the most rewarding things about their honeymoon. That, and the long stretch of time to just be together away from everything else.

"Come here," Alec says then, and Magnus goes as guided, rolling back over on his side. He lifts his leg and presses his foot into the bed where Alec moves it to, groaning as Alec presses deeper into him then stops moving altogether. "Wanna see."

"What?" Magnus asks, moving as Alec squeezes his hip so he knows to lean back a little more, then hooks Magnus' leg over his own.

Alec reaches for his hand and guides Magnus to grip around himself, presses a kiss to the side of his head and nuzzles there as he strains his neck to look. Magnus smiles, giving himself a languid pull, swirling his thumb over his head and arching back, and splaying his legs a little wider for Alec to watch. Alec mumbles encouragement and praise into his ear giving the occasional stir of his hips that leaves Magnus gasping, and gripping himself tighter.

He tries to slow down, knowing how much Alec loves watching him like this, managing to bring himself close to coming twice before having to grip hard around his base to stave it off. His hips are flexing back instinctively, and he's clenching around Alec urging him to move. Alec presses a final hard kiss to his neck then sweeps his hand down his side, lazily pulling out of him almost entirely before slamming back in.

Magnus groans through the sharp thrusts into him, hearing only their hard breaths and the slap of skin together. He reaches to continue stroking himself but Alec grips his hand to stop him, pressing it against his stomach and using the leverage to drive into him deeper.

"Not yet," he gasps out, and it makes Magnus' stomach roll for the intent in his voice, knowing Alec plans to try to get him to come untouched. Magnus writhes back against him, groaning for every shoot of pleasure and calling out every time he gets a little nearer to coming.

"A little more," Alec pants out, snapping his hips faster and harder, a continual stream of moans falling from his mouth.

There is a gasp Alec gives then that Magnus recognizes, closing his eyes to the frantic angle change as Alec grips tighter to him. He's trying to hold out, Magnus thinks, to wait for him to come first. Magnus grinds back against Alec teetering on the edge of cresting, sure just another few strikes will make him spill.

"Magnus," Alec groans out arching hard against him as he comes, that final nudge of his cock head against Magnus' prostate not quite enough.

Magnus listens to Alec fight to get his breath back and smiles at his disappointed kiss to the back of his head.

"I'm sorry I couldn't wait."

"I am in no way complaining," Magnus replies, arching back with a groan as Alec wraps his fingers around him and begins to tug.

More words spill from Alec's lips to urge him on, and it takes only a few pulls before Magnus is calling out, pressing back against Alec, clenching around him, and looking down just in time to watch himself spill over Alec's knuckles.

"Better," Alec says, a smile in his voice as he presses kisses anywhere he can get to, milking him until Magnus is over-sensitive and shuddering.

Alec holds on to him with a contented sigh, the two of them silent as they calm. Magnus clenches around Alec again as he softens, smiling for the pleased mumble it earns him, and sighing as Alec pulls out.

"Even more sleepy," Alec says as he nuzzles against him leaving Magnus smiling again. He snaps his fingers to clean them up, and rearranges himself so that they're both more comfortable. Then tangles their fingers together and raises their hands to kiss the back of Alec's, before letting out an exhausted, contented sigh, and closing his eyes.

* * *

"Magnus…"

Magnus looks up at the worry in Alec's voice then down at the bright sparks of magic shooting up from his palm, the look on Alec's face saying he's having difficulty controlling it.

"You are fine, Alexander," he says, reaching out to drop his hand beneath Alec's to fold his fingers over and shut the magic off. "It's fine."

"That was… I didn't feel like I could stop it," Alec says, unfolding his fingers and cautiously inspecting his hand up close.

"Remember that you can. Remember that something as simple as this," Magnus says, snatching up Alec's other hand to echo what he's just done, "will close it off. Especially at the moment while your magic is still so young."

"It just needs training?"

"Of course," Magnus replies, kissing his shoulder and wrapping his arms around Alec's waist. "Should we try again?"

Alec huffs, and Magnus watches as he jabs his thumb in suspicion against his palm. But his shoulders square in determination as Magnus steps back from him, and Alec once more is holding out his hands palm up. Magnus watches the blossoming of magic right in the center and the way it begins to spread over his skin.

"What do I do?"

"Turn them over and… aim."

Magnus wishes he has better instructions, tries to imagine what it must be like to have to learn this from scratch. He can teach control, offer guidance when Alec eventually starts brewing potions of his own, but trying to find the right words to guide Alec through his fledgling magic is proving a more difficult task than he'd expected it to be.

" _Just aim_ ," Alec retorts, mimicking his voice in teasing as he nudges into his side. "What if my aim is bad?"

"Says the famous Alec Lightwood. Master Archer of the New York Institute."

"Firstly? No one's ever called me _that_ ," Alec says, laughing, and his dip in concentration making his magic stutter.

"I have."

"And second? That's _Lightwood-Bane_."

Magnus throws his head back and laughs, and once again their attempts to practice with magic falter to a stop. "I hadn't forgotten."

"Well, _good_ ," Alec says, dropping his hands and grabbing Magnus for a quick kiss before pulling back with a smirk. "Now. I'm gonna do this again."

"Perhaps if you follow what I do," Magnus suggests as he lifts his hands and directs Alec to copy his movements.

"I'm gonna have to take up tai chi or something, aren't I?" Alec says, his own movements far less graceful than Magnus', which is a surprise to them both.

"Not necessarily."

"Is it hard to learn?"

"It's been centuries since I learned it myself, so I am no judge."

"I don't think it's something I could learn from _you_ ," Alec mumbles, and Magnus turns to watch him in profile as Alec smiles to himself.

"Because?"

"You're too distracting. I watch you for five seconds when you're practicing, and I'm… believe me. The last thing I'm thinking about when I watch you practice is _chi_."

Magnus bursts out laughing again, nudging his head against Alec's shoulder. "Your focus is awful today."

"I can't think why," Alec retorts with a deliberate lingered gaze over Magnus' chest.

"Do you want me to get dressed?"

"No," Alec says, though the magic that had begun to flare in his palms drops yet again for the way he spins and crowds up against him, cupping his face for a kiss.

"I suppose we are in no hurry," Magnus whispers against his mouth, slipping his hands down Alec's back before looping his arms around his waist.

"Let's try one more time with this, and then… do something else for the day."

"Whenever you are ready," Magnus agrees, smiling as Alec squeezes his shoulders, and turns away to try again.

* * *


	4. Bratislava

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>  
> 
>   
> 
> 
> * * *

"Those clouds look pretty heavy," Alec says as he walks in with his arms full of takeout.

Magnus, sat on the balcony of this Bratislavian apartment they have not long arrived in, watches the sky get darker with every passing minute, and can only agree. "There was a weather report earlier that said something about several millimeters of rain every hour for the next eight hours."

"That… doesn't sound like a lot?" Alec asks as he shrugs out of his jacket.

"No," Magnus replies as they open up the bags of food and begin to lay it out on the table. "Though thirty millimeters is… well. More than an inch. In fact, it might have even been centimeters."

"Thirty centimeters?"

"Perhaps not that much. Perhaps twelve. I should have paid more attention."

"Well, still. That's… pretty bad, right?" Alec says, pouring a glass of wine from the bottle Magnus has just summoned from the kitchen.

"It could be," Magnus agrees, opening up the paper packet of chopsticks after handing the other to Alec. "I'm sure that means flooding is imminent."

"Then we… should we do something?" Alec asks with his chopsticks loaded up with food paused on the way to his mouth.

"I suppose we could leave—"

"No, Magnus," Alec says, laughing a little and taking that mouth of food, washing it back with wine and swallowing before answering. "You think we can do something to help?"

"I… even I cannot divert a storm of that magnitude, Alexander," Magnus smiles, forever touched for his confidence in his abilities.

"No, but… wait. But you can do _some_ stuff to the weather?" Alec asks, dropping his chopsticks in surprise.

"Of course."

"...will I be able to? Eventually?" Alec asks after a pause and several more mouthfuls of food, as though he has been considering the possibilities of what that might mean.

"Perhaps. It is complicated magic that is very difficult to harness. Perhaps in the future—"

"Not like we don't have the time," Alec points out with a wave of his chopsticks. It is something they keep repeating to one another, catching each other smiling for it because the reality of that is still so _new_.

"True."

"Anyway. Is there something we can do to help?"

Magnus has been in cities inundated with flooding before, so knows there will be people down in the city protecting prominent buildings and homes with sandbags and whatever other defenses they can get their hands on. There will be people insistent on not leaving and who will then become trapped, unwittingly putting rescuers in danger when the waters are rising.

Magnus sympathizes, and understands that for some they really have no choice but to stay where they are. But the chaos that always descends when the rains start falling always leaves him on edge for not knowing where to help first.

"I think at the moment there isn't much we can do. We aren't authorities, or… we aren't even locals. I can't imagine there are many people who would listen to us if we said about a storm coming, when they would have seen the same reports as us," he adds, trying to work out a map of the city in his head and determine which areas are most likely to be hit.

"Magnus. We're right on the edge of the river."

He really should have checked the weather report better before they'd left the last place they were in, Magnus thinks, scolding himself for being selfish and wanting only to think of their honeymoon together, instead of helping.

"The Danube, yes. Flowing through ten countries, four of which have major cities along the banks of it. Including this one. It is likely all those other cities are on the same alerts as here in Bratislava."

"So we... what can we do?"

The first splatters of rain are beginning to fall already. Magnus nods for Alec to sit back from the table so he has room to conjure magic to move their dinner inside. "I think at the moment, not a lot."

"But—"

"Alexander. We are high enough in this building not to be affected ourselves, but can still see from here if there are areas that are at risk. Much as I would love to open a portal and move everyone to safety, I don't know if my efforts would be welcome. Or where we would portal people to. And since, I imagine, most of the people here haven't ever been portaled—"

"Are there other warlocks here?" Alec asks, again interrupted from eating by a thought occurring to him.

"Probably, yes. Though I didn't think to look anyone up."

"Well. We are on our honeymoon. Why would you?" Alec says, smiling around his chopsticks.

Magnus spends a couple of minutes dividing their food up better between them, laughing as Alec continues to try sneaking extra shrimp on to his plate. Alec then holds up a mushroom for Magnus to look at, pointing out it looks just like a snail.

"Here's what we'll do," Magnus says as he smiles back at him, watching Alec fight with an errant piece of bell pepper that flies up in the air from his chopsticks. "Once we know for sure how extensive this storm is going to be, or see anywhere where we can help, then we will. But for now—"

"We should finish this food. Maybe light some candles," Alec finishes for him looking at the flickering light overhead. "You think the power could go out?"

The sky when Magnus looks over towards the balcony is almost the color of slate, making him think it won't be long before they hear the first rumble of thunder. "If the storm system is bad enough, yes."

"Guess we'll have to find something to do by candlelight," Alec replies with a glint in his eye that Magnus can't help but smile at, or stop his stomach clench in anticipation for.

He keeps eye contact with Alec as he raises his hand to snap his fingers, calling several large pillar candles to place around the room.

"I'm sure we can think of one or two things," he said, with another snap of his fingers that lights all the candles at once.

Alec smiles as he looks around the room, then nods at Magnus' plate in encouragement for him to continue eating.

* * *

The power is out. And the rain is heavy, but more steady than the downpour Magnus had initially feared.

Alec lit by candlelight is exquisite, kneeling between Magnus' legs as he sprawls out the full length of the couch. His hands trail over Magnus' chest in exploration before Alec gives himself an unhurried tug as he gets more comfortable, then leans back to look as he thumbs him open.

"Magnus. You're beautiful. You always are," Alec says, sweeping his hands back up to spread his thighs before holding him open once again.

"As are you."

Alec smiles, nudging forward until he's pressing at his hole, then is tumbling forward to brace against the couch cushions either side of Magnus' head as he slides into him. Alec is silent until he's seated, and only then does he let out a long, soft groan.

"You feel so good," Alec whispers, stirring his hips a little and smiling as Magnus arches up to meet him.

Magnus angles up for a kiss and strokes his hands up Alec's arms, then loops them around his waist. He glances down to watch as Alec withdraws from him, the candlelight dancing across their skin in ripples, and waits to see him sinking into him again.

Alec moves a little more, slotting his fingers beneath Magnus' head and not breaking eye contact as he thrusts into him with a lazy stir of his hips. He nips at his jaw, and nuzzles at his cheek before claiming his mouth, with unhurried kisses and whispered encouragement to follow as they move together. Magnus traces circles into his back and down over his ass, gripping there to grind up against him one moment then groaning at the sharper snap of Alec's hips the next, earning himself a teasing smile before Alec ducks in for another kiss.

"You think it sounds like the rain's gonna get bad?" Alec asks, kneeling back up and gripping around his hips, smiling as Magnus arches for the change of angle that is sending sharp shoots of pleasure through his core.

"I had almost stopped thinking about it."

"Only almost?" Alec teases, snapping his hips hard again and laughing softly as Magnus moans for it. "I'm gonna have to do better to distract you."

Magnus knows that look of intent, has happily been on the receiving end of it so many times before. But he still reaches out, gripping one hand around the back of the couch for support as the other clings tightly to its arm behind his head.

"Alec—"

Alec tumbles forward, tucking his face into Magnus' neck and mouthing up it as he sinks into him in slow, deep thrusts. Pinning Magnus in place so all he can do is wrap his legs high around his waist and hold on tight, rewarded with a kiss for every moan.

"I love you," Alec says, and as Magnus has been expecting him to do, he moves to slide his hands beneath Magnus to grip around his shoulders.

"I love—"

"...Ow."

Magnus quickly braces himself against the couch so he doesn't follow Alec tumbling to the floor, holding in a snort of laughter as he turns on his side and waits for Alec to look up.

"Alec—"

"I… thought the couch was wider than that," Alec complains as he rolls up on to his knees, prodding at his hip that apparently took the full force of his fall.

"Let me see," Magnus says, already sitting up and swinging his legs around so he can plant his feet either side of Alec.

Alec braces himself on Magnus' knees and stands, his fingers tangling through Magnus' hair as he presses kisses over the redness flaring over his thigh and hip. "So much for being _graceful_ , huh?"

Magnus tries not to smile, but when he looks up he catches the same smile on Alec's face that says he's sharing a memory of their first time together like this. He presses another kiss to his hip keeping that eye contact, then moves to mouth over his length, lapping over his head.

Alec widens his stance a little, and Magnus takes that as encouragement to wrap his fingers around his base, taking Alec into his mouth. Alec groans for it, both hands now up and cradling the back of his head. Magnus moves his hands to his hips to encourage Alec to thrust into his mouth, closing his eyes at the noises Alec is making. He has to stroke himself for it, the pressure building too much to ignore.

"I need to stop," Alec says then, pulling out of his mouth and bracing his hands on Magnus' shoulders, curling over himself a little.

Magnus watches the way his stomach is rippling and squeezes his hips. "Are you in a hurry this evening, Alexander?"

"Trying not to be," Alec replies, and Magnus has to hide his smile again for the pout he hears in Alec's voice without even looking for it.

"Come here," Magnus whispers, patting the couch cushion beside him, then waiting for Alec to sit before climbing into his lap.

He wraps his arms around Alec's neck and kisses him unhurried, smiling at the stroke and squeeze of Alec's hands up his sides. When Alec gathers him up in a hug Magnus buries his face in his neck, luxuriating in the peace of the room, and the warmth of Alec, as he listens to the rain continuing to fall outside.

When Alec releases his grip on him, Magnus reaches to stroke him over, then kneels up and holds himself open. And keeping their eye contact Magnus slides down on to Alec, biting his lip for that sensation of being filled.

"Now. We can be as unhurried as you want," he says, looping his arms back around Alec's neck and beginning to stir his hips.

Alec drops his head back against the couch and loosely grips Magnus around the hips, shifting a little to get comfortable. "You're beautiful like this," he says, raising his hand to wave at what Magnus has to presume is the candlelight, before pressing his hand back to his hip again.

* * *

"Magnus. We can… later, obviously, but we can… maybe we can help with stuff like this."

Magnus finishes clearing away the branches of trees and other debris that were blocking a drain, standing back as the backup of water subsides and threatens to wash over his shoes. "With… clearing up after flooding?"

"Well. Yeah. And… I don't know, Magnus. If we've got all this… if we can help, then we should. Right?"

Magnus turns to see Alec studying his palms like he's willing his magic to work faster, and closes the gap between them, leaning into his side. "Of course we can."

"I know we can't do everything all the time. And I know there's a lot of stuff I said I wanted us to do, but—"

"But there is nothing wrong in wanting to help people like this," Magnus finishes for him, hit with a swell of pride for Alec and all the ideas he has for what he wants to do with his immortality.

"We could… couldn't we help with… I mean I guess there are all kinds of things we can help with, right?"

There is such hope on Alec's face, such earnestness for all the things he wants to do, that Magnus has to kiss him for it, wrapping him up in a hug as he thinks of an example from his own experience to share with him so he understands his thoughts.

"Once, perhaps some… eighty years ago now, I spent several months amongst several orphanages in Calcutta," he says, recalling laughter and never-ending smiling faces punctuated with despair for not being able to do enough, and continuing to try until it got too much.

"Doing what?" Alec asks in obvious fascination, taking his hand as they begin to walk.

Earlier, they'd seen a family peering down at the city from a high window as a deluge of water washed by blocking them in. Magnus had taken one look at the fear in the eyes of the children held tightly in their parent's arms and performed a complicated spell to erase their memory at the same time as portaling them away from harm.

"Well, whatever they asked of me," he says, smiling at some of his favorite memories. "A little cooking. A little entertaining. A lot of hugs for the smaller children when they couldn't sleep."

"How much of that was with magic?"

"None of the hugs. But some of the other things," Magnus admits, thinking of the huge pots of food he cooked in seconds without anyone realizing because they were so busy, the snaps of fingers that cleaned up arriving children who hadn't been washed days. And in particular, one little girl, who had seen the swirl of magic in his palm when he'd not been quick enough to hide it, and all but attached herself to his hip for the entire length of his stay as a result. Magnus can still remember her smile, and her tears when he'd had to leave. He blinks the image away and swirls his thumb over the back of Alec's hand to comfort himself, trying not to imagine what age she must be now.

"So. It was… good?"

"Alexander. It was a wonderful experience. There is very little as rewarding as helping those who can't help themselves. But in the end, it… it was never-ending, Alec. We couldn't… every day when it felt like we had made a difference, made an impact on the huge numbers of children without families, or homes, a surge more of them came in. And it was… I am ashamed to say that it was too much for me. It broke my heart not being able to do enough. And I couldn't do it any longer."

"Magnus," Alec says with a kiss to his temple, "you made a difference to those kids, I know you did. You didn't—there's nothing for you to be _ashamed_ of at all."

Magnus leans into Alec, his heart swelling for him constantly knowing his mind.

"Still. My point is, that while, of course, we will help—we will _always_ help—some days it feels like the task is too much. And sometimes… sometimes you need to take a little time for yourself before you can bring yourself to go back."

Magnus has dropped himself into orphanages, refugee camps, areas hit by both natural disasters and man-made ones. Given more of himself than, at the time, he'd thought he would be able to. And though he would never take back a moment of any of the help he's given, on down days there are moments when he remembers all those he has helped, alongside all those he couldn't, and feels like he hasn't done anything at all.

He doesn't want to dishearten Alec, but neither does he want to be dishonest with him. Helping people is something that comes second-nature to Alec, Magnus knows it does. Selfishly, he doesn't want Alec to lose that part of himself by losing hope if he finds there are situations where he can't do enough.

"We will decide on that later. But for now, we should concentrate on our honeymoon, and you getting used to your magic," he says, quickly running through his never-ending list of ideas for places he wants to take Alec, and things he wants him to see.

Alec presses a longer kiss to his cheek, reaching to turn his chin to kiss his mouth. The smile he gives him confirms he's guessed at least some of what he's thinking. Alec throws his arm around Magnus' shoulders and tugs him into his side, pointing out a direction for them to head.

* * *


	5. Szczecin & London

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>  
> 
>   
> 
> 
> * * *

Magnus ducks his head so Alec can't see how hard he's fighting to hold in his smile, and forces a slow breath out through his nose before he can look up again. Alec is the most adorable grump when things aren't going his way, and when he's getting frustrated at himself. The tension across his shoulders and the scowl formed on his lips wouldn't be amusing in any other setting. But as they stand in this small forest clearing on the edge of the Puszcza Bukowa in Poland where they've found themselves exploring as he tries to use his new magic, Alec is delightfully frustrated with himself. Huffing and puffing and muttering out clipped words.

"If you can just—"

"If you tell me to _focus_ again, I'll…"

Magnus ducks his head again, though it doesn't last long for the way Alec crowds against him and peppers kisses all over his face in apology.

"Magnus, I'm sorry. I shouldn't be taking this out on you."

"You aren't exactly _taking this out_ on me," Magnus replies, wrapping his arms around Alec's waist to draw him nearer, feeling like his cheeks might burst with how hard he's trying not to smile.

"Then, I didn't mean to snap at you."

"Believe me, Alexander, I am quite used to you snapping—"

It's the very worst thing to say, apparently. Because the mournful noise bursting from Alec's mouth is accompanied by even more frantic kisses, and Alec can't seem to get close enough to Magnus as he tries to apologize to him.

"I don't mean to—"

"And I didn't mean you snap at me all the time," Magnus counters, cradling Alec's face to stop him moving, and staring at him until he sighs. "I just meant that I can recognize why you are snapping even if I'm not aware of what's caused it. Meaning I know that your frustration here isn't at me."

"It isn't at you," Alec mumbles pitifully into Magnus' shoulder as he wraps him up in his arms, grumbling to himself and making it nearly impossible for Magnus to hold in his laughter.

"I can't even begin to understand how frustrating it must be to have this sense of… energy, coursing through you, and not yet being able to harness it," he adds, sweeping his hands over Alec in an attempt to soothe him.

"It's like having a word on the tip of your tongue that you really need to know, and you can feel it right there, but it won't come out."

It's an analogy that makes Magnus smile harder still, and he tucks himself into Alec's neck to avoid showing just how amused he is.

"Alec," he whispers when he has control of himself, cupping his face with both hands again for a soft kiss, "there really isn't any hurry with any of this."

"I know. But we've been… Magnus, we've been away for, what. Six weeks?"

"And for all we know, it could take you six years to master parts of this."

"Six _years_?" Alec cries out looking horrified, and Magnus is kissing him to placate him once again.

"It probably won't be as long as that," he amends, "but these things take time. And there will always be new things to learn and discover. I don't think any of us ever truly know everything there is to know about, well. Anything."

Alec mumbles under his breath and wraps Magnus up a little tighter, though pulls back after a moment with a resigned nod.

"Would you like to try again?"

Alec kisses his cheek and tangles their fingers together, before turning to stand by his side with a determined set of his shoulders. "Yes."

"Okay. And remember, it is more a question of _knowing_ you can do this, rather than just _telling_ yourself you can do this."

"Jace used to tell me something like that. Something like… if you believe you're the best, you're already the best. Or something like that."

Magnus smiles at the image that creates for him of Jace and Alec as children, and then wonders how many more photo albums of them Maryse has that he can sneak a look at without Alec protesting too hard.

"Wise words," he says, nodding for Alec to prepare himself.

"It's just—"

"You can do this, Alexander. I have complete faith in you."

"You say that, but… this, it's not doing much of anything."

Magnus looks at Alec's raised hand and the thickening swirls of magic blooming up from his palm. Perhaps Alec can't see it because he is too close to notice how his magic is strengthening every time he uses it. "All in good time."

"I—"

"Am impatient. Yes, I know," he agrees, turning to kiss the disgruntled look from Alec's face. "Now. The key to summoning, is either knowing where the item you are summoning is, or picturing it so vividly that you can call it here just by imagining it."

"Right," Alec agrees, squeezing Magnus' hand and then dropping it, shaking both of his own down by his sides.

"Picture what you want to move here," Magnus tells him, hoping Alec doesn't get too ambitious. The log cabin they are staying in isn't all that far away, but the distance is possibly too much for Alec to bring them something from it as a first attempt.

"I'm trying."

"I know. Now just… picture it, focus on it, and snap your fingers. Demand it to be here with you."

Alec huffs under his breath again, fingers still flaring down by his sides. But then he's squaring his shoulders, clenching his jaw in determination, and raising up an arm. Magnus watches him snap his fingers repeatedly, holds his breath as impatience crosses his face. Barely resists reaching out to thumb away the frown on his forehead. Then jumps back at the thudding sound against Alec's chest, watching him stumble forward holding on to a plant.

A _lot_ of plant, Magnus amends, taking in the clump of soil and roots at the base of what he thinks are pale yellow primroses, and biting his lip for the look of contrition on Alec's face when he lowers them.

"I meant to bring you one flower. _One_."

"I suppose, technically you did."

"Are these gonna be okay?" Alec asks, frowning in concern at the roots and looking around him as though he's planning on replanting the primrose right there.

Magnus reaches out, pinches one solitary primrose to keep, then snaps his fingers to send the rest back.

"They will be fine. Thank you, Alexander," he adds, holding on to the primrose as he takes Alec's hand, and leans in for a kiss.

"I think, maybe that's enough magic from me for one day," Alec says in resignation.

"Perhaps," Magnus agrees, though squeezes his hand and nudges against his arm in solidarity.

Alec turns to smile, then changes the subject entirely, excitedly talking about the trees they are walking a path through.

* * *

"Magnus. Does it bother you going to some of these places when… when I know you didn't exactly have the best of times in the past here?"

Magnus has only just returned to their table from using the bathroom, and absently straightens up his pot of tea before answering. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Alec says, toying with his teacup, "for instance. We're sat here, in… Claridges, you said? Having _afternoon tea_. And I know you have all kinds of history of being here with... well, Camille for a start—"

"Alex—"

"And you lost Ragnor here," Alec adds, reaching across the table to squeeze his hand, sympathy filling his expression. "That can't be… Magnus, every year on the anniversary of what happened, I can see it on your face how much you miss him. I can see it when you look through old photo albums, and I… I know you have other bad memories here in London as well."

"I do," Magnus agrees as he circles his thumb over the back of Alec's hand, and gestures to the stand beside them that still has a few sandwiches and miniature cakes. "I also have some wonderful memories of being here in London. And I'm making new wonderful memories here with you."

Alec smiles, picking up an eclair and absently sucking a smear of cream from his finger. Magnus watches the gesture, knows it's not even deliberate because of the concerned look on Alec's face for worrying about _him_ , yet can help but shift a little in his seat for it, and have to take a sip of his tea to clear his now-dry mouth.

"I know," Alec says with a soft smile, "I just—"

"While it is true that sometimes it is difficult to go back to places where I have a history, it is also refreshing. To see what things have changed, what has stayed the same—viewing these places from an entirely new perspective."

Magnus has traveled the world with both friends and lovers before, of course, explored new cities and countries in company and had various people to share his excitement for new experiences with. But with Alec, as it will always be with Alec, it is different. Because Alec has chosen to always be by his side. And because Alec will always be _his_.

"Still. I don't want you to think that… Magnus, if there's some place you don't wanna go because it's too difficult, or we go somewhere, and you need to talk about what happened there? I hope you know that… I'll always listen. You don't need to… there isn't a single thing you can't talk to me about."

This, Magnus thinks as a bloom of affection raises in his chest, this is why he is so in love with Alec. He never shies away from things that are difficult, even gently forcing the issue when he knows it's important to them both and Magnus is the one trying to avoid talking.

"I do know that," Magnus assures him, covering their hands with his free one. "Though, you should also understand sometimes it is enjoyable to return to a familiar place with someone new—someone who hasn't been there before—to see it through their eyes."

"You said that in Tokyo," Alec says with a pleased smile, "when we… when we were there for one of our first dates."

"Exactly. And for every place we ever go in the future—even on this honeymoon. Wherever we are, it will be a new experience being there with you."

"Okay," Alec says, trapping Magnus' thumb with his own and squeezing, "just… don't forget. If you need to talk—"

"Then, I will. I promise," Magnus finishes for him, raising and kissing his hand. "Now. On that note, once we have finished here, perhaps I can take you on a little tour of some of the places I frequented with Ragnor—and probably got kicked out of once or twice."

Magnus smiles at the memory of the two of them spilling out of the doorways of public houses after being told they were too loud, or being chased out of apothecaries for telling customers which things they were buying were overpriced. And smiles yet again at the thought of Alec's face when he regales him with these kinds of stories.

"Okay. So, who gets the cheesecake, and who gets the… what is this? Lemon curd tart?" Alec says as he picks up the small plate and curiously eyes the tart before looking at Magnus over the top of it.

"Any preference?"

Alec tilts the plate a little to look at it from every angle then sets it down in front of Magnus, taking the cheesecake for himself. Then pours them both the remainder of their tea.

"Thank you, Alexander."

"Are we gonna finish everything?" Alec asks, waving at the stand to their side.

"We should. Everything is so delicious."

"Then. You should have this too," Alec says, picking up the two remaining sandwiches and pushing the beef and horseradish in front of Magnus while taking what Magnus thinks is a Ploughman's for himself.

"The horseradish is too much?" Magnus guesses.

"Thought I was gonna burn the roof of my mouth off," Alec retorts, taking a bite of his sandwich and sighing around it as he reaches out once again to take his hand.

* * *

The sky is the color of dishwater, grey, and miserable, full of clouds bulging with imminent rain. It is a little after eight in the morning, though from how dark everything is Magnus thinks it could be mistaken for a couple of hours earlier, or even dusk. But it's peaceful, and beautiful despite the monochrome of the impending weather. The cobbled streets below are empty aside from a few people clutching pastry bags, or cups of coffee. In the distance, Magnus can hear a few stores opening up their shutters for their early customers, and if he listens hard enough he can hear the wind whipping around the small town square a few minutes away. He pretends he can't hear the traffic at all, preferring instead to imagine centuries earlier with horse and carts and footfall as his backdrop, smiling to himself at his own nostalgia.

Magnus sips at his coffee, admiring the glint of his wedding ring as he thinks he's done every morning since putting it on. And then he's smiling for the second ring appearing on the hand slipped over his own, along with the kisses pressed to the back of his hair as Alec tugs him back against his chest.

"Good morning," Alec says as he mouths over his shoulder, pressing a longer kiss into his neck.

"Good morning, Alexander."

"You couldn't sleep?"

"Not for the past couple of hours," Magnus admits, smiling at the concerned nuzzle against the side of his head.

"Everything okay?"

"It is," Magnus assures him, leaning his head back against Alec's shoulder as he steals a sip of his coffee. "I only stepped out on the balcony thinking I heard thunder, and got distracted watching the sun, well… not exactly rise. Watched the city getting lighter, and waking up, I suppose."

"You're not cold?" Alec asks, running his hands down over Magnus' arms before hugging him tighter.

"Not too cold, no."

"You wanna… come back to bed? Or… you want me to get up?"

"Are you still tired?"

"A little."

"Then, go back to bed," Magnus tells him, nudging Alec backward so he can turn, and leaning in for a kiss. "I'll join you again in a moment."

"You're sure everything is okay?"

Magnus smiles against Alec's mouth and nods, cupping his face. "Everything is perfect. I am just enjoying the quiet."

Alec eyes him suspiciously, pressing a kiss to his forehead before nodding and turning away, and laughing as Magnus reaches out to squeeze his ass in passing. Magnus listens to Alec climbing back into bed, and smiles to himself at his contented, sleepy sigh.

Today is perfect, he thinks, with no firm plans of anything they want to do. Knowing there are going to be so many more moments like this than one lifetime with Alec could ever have given him, Magnus indulges in breathing in deep and thinking of only this moment, as he has asked Alec to do so many times. He has so often failed to do so with Alec, fretting over every minute he's come home late, and every incident that's kept them apart. He's spent nights watching Alec asleep, monitoring his face for any signs of time passing even though he's known that's been irrational to do. And sometimes, Magnus thinks, he's rolled a little away from Alec to press his hand against his chest to feel it rising and falling. Reassured for every thud against his hand that is a heartbeat.

He doesn't have to worry now. Nothing will steal Alec from him, Magnus is adamant about that. Not the passage of time, nor any incident where Alec could be caused any harm. Magnus will protect Alec to the point of Alec accusing him of coddling him, and will do it all the more just because he _can_.

Their lives will be rare amongst other immortals. Magnus knows that he and Alec will defy all odds and overcome any hurdles, remaining strong together no matter what those lives throw at them. Magnus knows of only three other couples in the world that have been together in a relationship that's lasted beyond a few decades, and of Shadowhunters-turned-warlocks he knows precisely none. _One_ now, he amends, for the beautiful man falling asleep behind him in their bed.

After just a few more minutes of watching the city begin to fill with life, Magnus looks up at the first raindrops starting to fall from those swollen clouds. Closing his eyes as they hit his face and breathes deep again, before walking back inside and crawling in beside Alec, laughing at his grumble about him being cold as he tries to warm him up.

* * *

Perhaps the picnic basket they bought when shopping on Oxford street was a _little_ indulgent. And perhaps the brightly-colored chequered picnic blanket they've chosen specifically for this occasion is a little too extravagant for a couple that has so rarely been on a picnic together before. But as Alec flicks the blanket out and Magnus watches it fall to the grass, he promises them both there will be many more picnics to come to get use out of them. When Alec has stopped moving the blanket Magnus bends down to straighten up one corner of it before he sits.

"This place is huge," Alec says as he sits to join him, and together they look at what feels like a never-ending stretch of trees and grass.

"The sign on the entrance we walked through did say Richmond Park is around 2,500 acres," Magnus points out, trying to remember if this is one of the parks he visited with Ragnor.

"British acres are different to ours, right?"

"I think so," Magnus agrees as he kicks off his shoes and socks, and grabbing Alec's ankle without warning to do the same.

Alec calls out in protest for almost losing his balance, laughing as he rolls them both backward and pins Magnus beneath him against the blanket.

"Hey," he says, adjusting a little so he isn't pressing his full weight on him.

"Alexander," Magnus replies, smoothing his hands down over his back.

"This is perfect. Thank you," Alec says, leaning in for a quick kiss that Magnus makes longer by slotting his fingers through the back of his hair to keep him close.

Alec squeezes his arm, bracing one hand just behind Magnus' head as he continues to keep his weight off him, then rolls over to the wrong side of him ending up sprawled out on the grass. Magnus sits up and tugs him back towards him to finish taking off his shoes and socks, then turns over and kneels so he can drag the picnic basket closer to them.

"So. We have champagne. Those sandwiches you enjoyed so much yesterday—"

"C'mon, Magnus. They're amazing."

Magnus smiles, pulling out the paper-wrapped chicken and bacon sandwiches stuffed with salad and sauces Magnus doesn't even recognize, putting them down in front of Alec to unwrap.

"I never said they weren't," he replies, reaching back in the basket for napkins and the paper plates that Alec picked out that are covered in cows. "And we have these as well."

Alec takes the large bag of Tyrells crisps from Magnus' hand and immediately pops them open, depositing a handful on both of their plates. "These are pretty good too."

"I know," Magnus agrees, watching Alec pop open into his mouth and crunch it, "you ate almost half a pack last night."

"It was the beer," Alec retorts as he takes another handful and holds a single large chip out for Magnus to bite.

"Perhaps. Now, the only thing we are missing is something sweet."

"Is it really a picnic without something sweet?" Alec asks, pretending to pout as he pops the champagne and leans over to reach into the basket for the plastic flute glasses they found when shopping.

"I never said we couldn't _have_ anything sweet. I just thought we could bring something here… directly," Magnus says with a slight flare of his fingers so Alec understands what he means.

"Okay. So? What are we having?"

"Well. Since we're here," Magnus says, with an absent wave around them to mean the park, "perhaps something a little... British?"

"Like what?" Alec says, distracting Magnus entirely for mopping up the sauce spilling from his sandwich before he picks it up, and sucking it off his thumb.

Magnus narrows his eyes to watch him do it a second time, clicking his tongue when Alec keeps his thumb in his mouth a little longer than necessary and grins around it at him. "You, Alexander, are a menace."

Alec shrugs and picks up half of his sandwich, taking a large bite that he then tries to talk around. "So? What haven't we tried yet?"

Magnus isn't sure, so pulls up a list on his cell phone and begins to scroll through, turning the phone so Alec can study the screen.

"What's a… oh, we had this, this is good," Alec says, and Magnus turns the phone back around to see a picture of carrot cake.

"Yes, that was good."

"Maybe something different though," Alec says, sucking his finger clean again and wiping it on a napkin then scrolling through the pictures as Magnus holds the phone up.

"Whatever you feel like."

"Oh, we had this too," Alec tells him, and Magnus checks to see the picture there of sticky toffee pudding, a dessert they had shared a portion of just two nights earlier. "Not exactly portable enough for a picnic though, huh?"

"We could if you wanted—"

"No, I'll keep looking," Alec says, smiling over the top of the phone.

He dismisses the idea of a Bakewell tart and an Eccles cake, toys with the idea of a Yorkshire curd, then settles on two pieces of caramel shortcake and a swiss roll. Magnus studies the pictures and the name of the bakery, snapping his fingers and laughing at the size of both when they appear in front of them.

"I think… we might need to finish this later," Alec says, lifting up the swiss roll and inspecting it, then reaching over again into the basket and pulling out a plastic knife.

* * *


	6. Galapagos Islands, Riobamba, & Foz do Douro

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>  
> 
>   
> 
> 
> * * *

"Is this where you tell me you met Charles Darwin and tell me some story of… I don't know. Getting drunk on board the Beagle with him, or something?"

Magnus ducks his head to hide his smile for the indignant, teasing tone in Alec's voice, snapping his fingers for another handful of kale to shred and feed to the waiting tortoise slowly lifting its head up towards his hand.

They've been exploring the Galapagos Islands for two days now, and this is the first time they've been up this close to any of the animals here in the wild. Magnus knows it's strange, but he feels a kind of affinity with these ancient creatures whose lifespan is so much longer than so many of the animals around them.

"Oh, I only met Charles once. At a dinner held at the University of Cambridge. He gave quite an impassioned speech about Lamarckian inheritance that, I suppose, in today's terminology could be described as _salty_. Other than that, I know only of his work on the theory of evolution. That and his… acquaintance, with Alfred Russel Wallace."

"Well. However you knew him, these guys are incredible," Alec says, stroking a hand over the shell of the giant tortoise he's been feeding before standing up from where he's been crouched. "But we… I guess we shouldn't really be touching them, huh?"

Magnus forgets sometimes that there are laws and protections in place for animals like these that, while he'd never want them to come to any harm, leave him frustrated for the reasons those protections have become necessary.

"No, you're right. We shouldn't," he agrees, standing up himself and holding out the last of the kale.

"So, after here? These islands are Ecuadorian, right?"

"Yes," Magnus agrees, taking his hand and pointing out a direction for them to head in.

"And we… can't go to Peru, right? With you still being banned?" Alec adds, nudging into his arm in tease.

"For which, I am still not sure of the reason for," Magnus says in defense of himself, forever curious about which particular event might be responsible for that ban, but not as yet ready to go back to find out.

"Yeah, I wonder," Alec agrees with a raised eyebrow that makes Magnus crowd up against him for a kiss.

"We can go anywhere you want, Alexander."

"I think… maybe we can stay somewhere in Ecuador? I read about maybe Cuenca, or Quito."

"We can take an apartment or a hotel in either for a few days."

"Do you have a preference?" Alec asks, pointing out an unusually shaped tree as they pass and pulling Magnus to a stop for a photo.

There will be so many photos, Magnus thinks as he smiles for him, glad of the memory cards in both their phones, and thinking how hard it's going to be to choose which ones to print.

"Well. Quito is the highest capital city in the world. And Cuenca is full of old colonial buildings," he says, dragging Alec back before he can turn away so they can add yet another selfie to their collection.

"Where's the place with all the hot springs?" Alec asks as he grips Magnus' arm and smiles, inspecting the photo when Magnus shows him it and nodding in approval.

"Baños."

"So… maybe there for a couple of nights and then… I don't know?"

"If we go to Riobamba, there is a hike that starts at one in the morning that takes us up Chimborazo where we can watch the sunrise. And there is also a train ride that takes us to Nariz del Diablo, that travels through both mountains and cloud forests. The views should be spectacular."

"Both," Alec says as he pulls Magnus to a stop and turns him, dropping his hand to cup his face and kissing him unhurried just to the side of the path they were following back to their hotel. "Let's do both."

* * *

"Magnus. How did you get _dirt_ in the back of your hair?"

Magnus smiles and tips his head forward a little as Alec works his fingertips over his scalp, water dripping back into the tub as he raises his hands up to grip the sides. "I have no idea."

"We were _hiking_ ," Alec adds with a snort of laughter as he moves his hand to show Magnus the clump of mud he's just pulled from his hair. "Not like we were laying down anywhere at any point."

Magnus flicks the mud from Alec's palm into the air and snaps his fingers to make it disappear. Alec snorts again and presses a kiss behind his ear, going back to washing his hair.

"Show off."

"The moment when you have mastered your magic and can use it for everything, I expect to see the same thing from you."

"That's… definitely gonna happen," Alec says, snapping his fingers to call the bottle of shampoo from the end of the bath and pressing a kiss of apology over Magnus' shoulder when it strikes him there before he can catch it.

"Jace already commented to me before we left that you would now have an unfair advantage when sparring," Magnus adds as he reaches up to stroke the top of Alec's head.

"Like he's not used all that _rune_ stuff with me since he figured out he didn't need a stele for everything," Alec retorts, his words mumbled for the trail of kisses he's pressing up Magnus' neck.

"I suppose it will make a difference for _us_ when we spar," Magnus adds, smiling for the look he knows Alec is giving him even without turning to see it. He's planning, Magnus is sure he can feel him doing it.

"I guess we'll see," Alec replies, and there is already competition in his voice.

"Although, perhaps we can leave sparring until another day," Magnus says as he rolls his neck, everywhere aching a little from just how many miles they've covered today.

"I was thinking of something far less strenuous this evening," Alec replies, reaching over the bath for the cup he's brought through, using it to rinse Magnus' hair free of shampoo.

"Oh?"

"I thought, since we've been walking almost all day, maybe a massage."

Magnus looks around the bathroom dotted with candles, and thinks how beautiful the lounge will look if they do the same. This house they are in for the next couple of days is made for such indulgences; Magnus hums in approval as he drops his head back against Alec's shoulder, smiling for the awkwardly-angled kiss he receives.

"We could make some of that oil you like so much for it if you want," he offers, thinking of Alec's enthusiasm when they brewed up a batch of sandalwood shampoo together for the first time.

"Will it take long?"

"A matter of minutes."

"Then. When we're finished in here, yes," Alec says, kissing his throat as he strokes his hands up Magnus' thighs beneath the water. "But not yet."

Magnus closes his eyes, concentrating on Alec's kisses and the trail of his fingers over his skin, and hums in agreement. "No, not yet."

* * *

"Everything okay?"

Alec is leaning on his forearms against the ledge of the balcony looking out over the streets below, and if Magnus looks at him from a slightly different angle, they could just as easily be at home on their balcony in New York.

"Yeah, I think so."

Magnus knows that tone. His fingers twitch down by his side to reach for him but thinks it might be better if he gives Alec a few minutes of space, so instead presses a hand to his back to let him know he's there before going inside, taking the time to answer a message from Catarina. He glances over his shoulder to look at Alec as he does, glad to see from his posture he's not tense, or worrying about something, but instead is just thinking something through.

Magnus tries not to worry that it's something involving _him_ , then chides himself for selfishness that every thought in Alec's head might be. Tells his stomach it isn't allowed to be knotting. That the residual fear that Alec regrets this decision is only his own insecurities talking. And that there is little he can do about it even if he does.

Magnus tries to drag it out as long as possible, manages twenty minutes of needless tidying in the bedroom and bathroom of their rented apartment before he has to go outside again. Magnus makes cocktails as slow as he can before returning to the balcony, depositing one next to Alec's arm without comment as he joins him in looking out over the scene before them.

"Thank you."

"You know, Alexander, I think if you look directly down that street there, you will be able to see all the way to the seafront."

Alec grips his glass so he doesn't send it flying from the ledge and follows the point of Magnus' finger down a narrow street. There are window boxes and small balconies blocking the view most of the way, but right at the bottom is the brightest, clearest blue that seems to travel upwards to join the sky overhead.

"You're right."

"I hope you didn't mind us taking somewhere a little further back from the sea this time. It gets so busy here; I thought we could do with a little quiet."

They've just come from Rio, staying in the very heart of Lapa where their entire stay had seemed one long party, and they had danced until late almost every night.

"We can hear ourselves _think_ here," Alec agrees, turning to smile at him as he holds out his glass for Magnus to clink against. "It'll be strange going to sleep without music playing in my ears."

"I feel as though my legs might still be dancing," Magnus says, looking down at himself, pleased when he looks back up that Alec is laughing.

"Yeah, mine too."

"So. Should I ask what it is you're thinking about?" he asks before he can stop himself, hiding his wince behind a smile.

Alec purses his lips together and nods, taking a sip of his drink before answering. "Nothing, really. And everything, I guess."

"Okay."

"Magnus," Alec says, his voice coming out soft as he reaches out to cup Magnus' face and draw him into a kiss. "Only that… there's just so much to think about."

"And if you need some time to think then I can—"

"We're on our honeymoon," Alec says, laughing as he tugs Magnus closer and nuzzles against his cheek. "I just… every now and then it just hits me how… how _big_ all of this is."

Magnus nods, not sure what exactly he's referring to when it could be so many things, quietly sipping his cocktail waiting to see if Alec has more he wants to say.

"A few years ago, I didn't… if someone had told me, I'd be stood on an apartment balcony in the middle of… where are we now? I think I got lost—"

"Porto. Foz do Douro, to be exact."

"Portugal, okay. Well," Alec says, taking another sip of his drink, "if someone had told me that I'd be here, with you—with someone that I love, and get to spend the rest of my life with—I think I'd have told them to visit the Silent Brothers to check them over for being sick or something."

Magnus smiles, closing his eyes for the kisses pressed over his cheeks, and lets himself relax a little more into Alec's embrace.

"I know you… I know you closed yourself off to… well. To all of _this_. But you've loved people in the past," Alec continues, and there's no change in his tone that justifies the clench in Magnus' stomach wondering what his next words are going to be.

"Yes."

"But I _haven't_. I've never… Magnus. You know when Nephilim fall in love— _really_ fall in love—then it's sort of a one time deal. We fall, and there's not really any way of coming back from that. Not that I'm saying I'd want to, obviously."

Magnus still doesn't know what to say. So he nods for Alec to continue and watches him, telling himself he isn't holding his breath.

"I never thought I'd get to have that, Magnus," Alec says soft enough for Magnus to have to strain to hear him. "I always wanted to—I could never admit it to anyone, obviously, but I… if I could have had anything for myself? It would be _this_."

"You mean, immortality, and exotic locations, and—"

"Just this," Alec whispers, leaning in for a kiss, "just… all of that's great, and it's… I'm not ever going to complain about a single second of it. But I… just being here, having someone who I know loves me, and being able to love them back without… just _having_ someone I get to share everything with. If anyone would have told me that I'd get to have that years ago, I think I'd have lost sleep over it. For how much I wanted it but knew I wouldn't ever get to have it."

Magnus is still speechless, but his lack of words aren't from that lingering doubt that taunts him, that one day Alec will wake to realize this new life—as well as _Magnus_ —are too much for him to deal with. But it's the honesty, and openness on Alec's face and in his words that are keeping Magnus from talking. So he smiles back, trusting Alec to find a way through.

"And I… I think it's gonna keep hitting me every now and then that we get to have that— _this_. And that… everything else we get to have because of it. I think it's just gonna take a while to get used to the idea that I've got everything I used to dream about, and never thought I would have."

"I'm fairly sure I won't get used to it any time soon," Magnus says, his tongue finally unsticking.

"It's got to be so weird for you," Alec says, smiling at him looking bewildered.

"What does?"

"That… well. I'm not going anywhere. _Ever_. You're stuck with me. And you can't outlive me now, even if you wanted to."

"I never wanted to outlive you," Magnus blurts out as he shakes his head, "not once. From the moment I realized I had fallen in love with you, I had to push the idea away for how much it… I never wanted to be without you."

Magnus can still feel the clench in his stomach from every time he's worried about losing Alec in the past, his breath coming out shakily as he tries to hide it.

"And you won't be," Alec tells him, with promise dripping from every word. "I just… I know you've had relationships with immortals as well, but… this is different. Isn't it?"

"It _is_ different," Magnus agrees, raising Alec's hand to squeeze over his wedding band. "It is different than everything I have experienced. It is… more than I ever dared hope for as well. For centuries."

Alec stares at him then, and Magnus wonders again what he's thinking about. But then Alec is smiling, leaning in to kiss him and draping his arm around his back, turning them so they can look out over the streets beneath them once again.

* * *

Alec nudges into his side and ducks his head, squeezing his fingers and leaving Magnus having to try to keep a straight face. The tour guide that is showing them around the city of Porto has an accent that is impossible to understand, but more than enough enthusiasm to make up for it.

It is his wild arm gestures to accompany his words that Alec is having difficulty dealing with, and why he can't bring himself to look up. Magnus can't blame him, really. The two women who were closest to the guide initially have moved as far away from him as it is possible to, after a swing of his arm that was just a little too energetic hit one of them square in the face.

When the third member of their party takes a wide step to avoid a similar fate, Alec catches Magnus' eye and nods towards a narrow street to the side of them, tilting his head towards it in a silent plea to make their escape. They wait until the guide has finished demonstrating whatever it is he is trying to tell them, then duck down the street with their heads bent until they are out of sight.

"What was _that_?" Alec says as they cling to each other giggling, looking behind them to make sure the guide isn't about to reappear.

"I have no idea. I think I understood a total of three things he was trying to tell us."

"Yeah. Something about the seafront, a pizzeria, and… something to do with cheese?"

"Oh," Magnus says, laughing as he tugs Alec's hand and turns them in the other direction away from where they've just been. "I heard something to do with the age of the streets and the best place for beer."

"Well. We got something from it between us, then," Alec says, pressing a kiss to his temple as they walk.

"Yes. More confused than I intended to feel this afternoon."

"It wasn't _that_ bad."

"Alexander. You were laughing to yourself the entire time he was talking," Magnus points out, smiling when Alec nudges against his arm.

"Maybe. Hey, maybe we should just make our own tour. Follow where everyone else is going, and just… see what we feel like."

"Perhaps we should have done that from the beginning," Magnus replies, pointing to one of the signs suggesting numerous attractions around the city for them to look at.

"I want ice cream," Alec says, tugging on his hand and pointing to a small store on the other side of the street with a small queue forming.

Magnus looks at the scoops of what he thinks is lemon sorbet as one of the customers passes them, and squeezes his hand back in agreement.

* * *

"Tell me something you want."

Magnus raises his head from where he is sprawled out on the couch to look at Alec blocking the sun streaming in from the balcony. "What do you mean?"

"Anything," Alec says, a little more insistently, and from the determined clench of his jaw, Magnus thinks he must be wanting to try something with his magic.

"I… want that pillow," he says, pointing towards the armchair across the room for the bright orange pillow there.

Magnus watches Alec nod, screw his face up in adorable concentration, before raising his hand and snapping his fingers, letting out a soft _oof_ when the pillow hits him in the face.

"That's perfect, Alec," Magnus says in encouragement, even if the chair is barely three feet away from Alec.

Alec hums at the exact pitch that says he knows he's being placated, and rolls his shoulders back after tossing him the pillow. "Something else."

Magnus lifts his head to look around the lounge, waving to a magazine a little out of his reach.

"Seriously?"

"You did want to practice," Magnus points out.

Alec sighs, but nods in agreement, and repeats the process all over again. Since that first attempt with a coffee mug and a book when they were back in Villefranche, and the incident with the primroses in that forest in Poland that Alec still scowls about when he remembers it, Alec's summoning skills are getting stronger every time he tries. His frustration that they aren't yet perfect leaves Magnus fighting back smiles one minute then reaching out to comfort him the next when his attempts aren't working out.

"Okay," Alec says, looking even more determined, "something else."

"How about that blanket in the bedroom?"

Alec nods, and Magnus can almost see him trying to picture the blanket he is speaking about. Then coughs and splutters when it lands on his face seconds later.

"Shit, sorry."

Alec is immediately across the room and pulling the blanket from him, nudging Magnus over a little on the couch so he can sit by his hip.

"It's okay—"

"Next," Alec demands, bending to kiss him as he says it and reaching out to squeeze his fingers. "I want to get _one_ of these things perfect. _One_."

Magnus squeezes his hand back and wriggles against the couch to get a little more comfortable. And after a few requests, there is a selection of fruit precariously balanced on the edge of the table in front of them, as well as small amount of jewelry that Alec is piling on his chest. Magnus isn't sure what it is Alec is hoping to achieve; his summoning is effective even if it is erratic and hard to predict.

"Alexander. Tell me what it is you are thinking," he says, squeezing Alec's forearm as yet another ring appears in his hand.

"I just want to be able to do this without… I guess without supervision," Alec says after hesitating, and even offering up an apologetic smile.

"I'm not supervis—"

"I didn't mean you were. But I wanna be able to… I want to be able to sit here, and hear you say, _Alec, I want this thing_ , and just be able to snap my fingers and get it for you. Like you do for me all the time."

Magnus holds back from telling Alec he is sweet or adorable knowing from his expression it will just exasperate him, and instead laces their fingers together so he can play with Alec's wedding band.

"Look at all these things I have here," he says, still holding Alec's hand so gesturing with his thumb at the jewelry and fruit.

"Yeah, but… I just want to be _better_ at it, you know?" Alec insists, absently swirling his thumb over the back of Magnus' hand.

"You _will_ ," Magnus insists, "you already _are_."

Alec's expression is anything but patient, but he sighs and nods his head anyway, picking up some of the rings and chains on Magnus' chest to play with.

"Let's do something else," Magnus suggests, not sure he is able to bear the crestfallen look on Alec's face.

Alec nods, and takes the remainder of the jewelry from him to drop on the table, gripping Magnus around the waist to move him a little more up the couch.

"What—"

"I'm sulking," Alec says, kissing him loudly on the cheek and grinning at him before laying his head on Magnus' shoulder.

"Okay—"

Another blanket from their bedroom comes sailing through the air to land on their heads, and Magnus laughs at Alec's muffled _dammit_ he hears from beneath it, smiling as Alec tugs it from them to throw to the floor.

* * *


	7. Bali

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>  
> 
>   
> 
> 
> * * *

Magnus is just about to reach out to turn the shower off when Alec picks up the shampoo again and deposits a handful of it on his head.

"You _ass_ ," Magnus calls out as Alec hops out of the cubicle giggling with glee, closing the door behind him and dancing so Magnus can see him through the frosted glass.

"You shouldn't have tickled me then," Alec calls, his words muffled as Magnus rinses his through hair again.

"You started it."

"I did not," Alec counters, pulling the door open a fraction and grinning at him. "I accidentally—"

"There was nothing _accidental_ about you pinching my ass."

"But I _like_ your ass," Alec retorts, reaching through to pinch him again when Magnus turns under the stream of water.

Magnus spins round to grab him almost slipping in the process, but the door is already closed, and he can hear Alec laughing to himself through it. Magnus sighs, shaking his head and rinsing the final stubborn suds from strands of his hair, then wrings out the excess moisture and steps out, snatching the waiting towel.

"Forgiven?" Alec asks, leaning in to kiss him and not moving away again until he hears Magnus' answering hum. "What would you say to a couple of hours of doing nothing? Maybe… put on Netflix or something. Find something to watch."

"That sounds perfect," Magnus agrees, drying his hair and watching as Alec dries himself off.

The runes covering his skin have begun to fade, looking more like old tattoos than powerful symbols of angelic blood. Alec hasn't said anything about them, and Magnus hasn't brought the subject up, thinking Alec has enough to be thinking about with everything immortality is doing to him. But Magnus continues to watch as Alec catches his reflection in the mirror, pausing from drying his chest and running his fingers over his runes. His face is pensive; Magnus quickly dries himself off and discards the towel over a nearby sink, wrapping his arms around him from behind and kissing his shoulder, waiting to see if Alec needs to talk.

"I guess I should've… expected these things would start disappearing at some point."

"I suppose so," Magnus agrees as he kisses between his shoulder blades before moving a little to the side to look at Alec's reflection. "Though, I can't say I put a lot of thought into that aspect of all of this myself."

"Catarina showed me this book a few months back with this picture, that I think was supposed to be another Shadowhunter—another former Shadowhunter, that is—like me."

"Oh?" Magnus asks, continuing to press gentle kisses over Alec's shoulder blades and sweeps his hands over his stomach before resting them on his hips.

Catarina has mentioned the conversation to him, of course, wanting Magnus to keep an eye out for Alec's reaction when his runes begin to fade. Catarina cares about Alec, far more than Magnus had ever expected her to. That she is so protective of him, worried about breaking his confidence yet also worried that he might struggle with coming to terms with all he is now, leaves Magnus proud that he has such a good friend.

"Yeah," Alec says with a soft sigh as he reaches up to trace the outline of a rune with his thumb. "It was… I don't know how old this person was supposed to be. And I don't—I'm not even sure if it was real or—or maybe even over-exaggerated a little. But the runes on this guy, they were faded, but kind of… I guess kind of silver, or something. Much, much paler, at the least."

"But still there," Magnus says, not knowing if that's helpful at all.

These runes have been a part of Alec for all his life, both the ones that adorn his skin and those he's grown up seeing on the bodies of those around him. Magnus can't tell if remnants of them lingering will bring him comfort or just a stark reminder of all he'll eventually lose, and everything he'll have to give up now he is immortal.

"Yeah. I guess," Alec says, and Magnus can't work out the tone in his voice.

Magnus presses his cheek to Alec's shoulder blade and gently sways them, waiting to give Alec whatever he needs. Alec's hands lift after a while to cover his own as he leans back against him, and Magnus hopes it's a sign that says he's okay with this new discovery.

"I just guess this'll be something I need to get used to," Alec says softly, and Magnus moves to drop his forehead against him, letting out a soft sigh against his skin.

"Yes."

It's on the tip of his tongue to ask Alec if he regrets it. It's something he's had to stop himself from asking numerous times. Before they'd even started the process to make Alec immortal he'd asked so often that Alec began saying he had that _look_ about him like he was about to ask. And even with all Alec's reasoning, even with his constant reassurance, Magnus still thinks he's going to worry about Alec regretting this from time to time for a while to come.

"How long do you think it'll be, before this advisory position they've created for me at the Institute either comes to nothing, or they start making excuses for why it's not working out?"

It's the first time since they left New York that Alec has made any mention of what's waiting for them when they return. Alec can't be the Head of the Institute anymore since he's no longer a Shadowhunter. But despite how much they frown upon Alec, his family, and Alec's association with Magnus still so much of the time, the Clave recognize what an asset Alec is to them. Magnus thinks they'd be crazy to ever oust him altogether, yet doesn't trust them not to do anything underhand. But he doesn't think they'll be willing to give Alec up any time soon, and that while Alec has every reason to be cautious, he also doesn't seem aware of just how important he is.

"I'm sure they will recognize you are invaluable to them. What with the Downworlder Cabinet, and the unwavering support of your team—"

"Former team," Alec corrects him, squeezing his hand. "They're my former team, Magnus. I'm glad we did what we did, and there's no way this wasn't going to eventually happen. I don't regret any of this for a second; not for getting to be with you, and for everything we talked about trying to change with… well. Within the Shadow World."

They did speak about change, Magnus thinks, in fact, it was one of the priorities on Alec's list of reasons for wanting to become immortal in the first place. Magnus still feels a surge of pride for Alec remembering all the things he wants to contribute making a difference to. For how busy he used to be as Head of the Institute, and for everything Alec has in mind to do now, he's going to be so busy, that Magnus thinks he'll need to prompt him constantly to take breaks.

"We'll deal with it. Whatever is waiting for us. One day at a time," Magnus tells him, stepping back a little as Alec begins to turn in his arms.

"Yeah. We will," Alec agrees, reaching up to cup his face and smiling back at him so full of love, that those few seconds of doubting Magnus just experienced dissolve into barely anything, kissed away until there's nothing left but a smile.

"I love you," he whispers as Alec leans against him, sweeping his hands down his sides to grip at his waist.

"I love you too. And I'll love you even more if we have that cocktail you made before with the rum in it."

"Mai Tai?"

"No, the really strong one with all the other stuff in."

"A Long Island Iced Tea?"

" _Yes_ ," Alec says with a smile, cupping his face as he kisses him again, "them."

"We've… had them before, though. Back in New York. Plenty of times."

"Yes, Magnus. But this will only be the second time we've had them on our honeymoon. It's _different,_ " Alec insists, raising and kissing Magnus' hand.

Magnus finds it difficult to argue with that logic, especially with the way Alec is smiling at him. "Then. Netflix, and Long Island Iced Tea it is."

Alec snorts at that, and the kiss he gives him suggests the cocktail might be replaced entirely with something else. But for now, Alec snaps his fingers looking pleased with himself when he's holding a change of clothes that he's summoned for them both. He dresses quickly, helping Magnus completely unnecessarily with his t-shirt, and smiling as he leans in for another kiss.

* * *

"I am exhausted," Magnus declares as they walk through the house they're renting and immediately throws himself down on the couch.

"I think we saw… everything," Alec agrees as he slumps down beside him, pressing his forehead against Magnus' shoulder before groaning and sliding down a little further.

It feels as though they have, Magnus thinks as he hums in agreement, picturing the four temples they've spent the day visiting, as well as Mount Kawi where they have just returned from. Their phones are both full of new photos, and their legs aching from all the walking they've done. Magnus reaches out and squeezes Alec's thigh, closing his eyes as he too sinks a little further into the couch.

"Would you like something to drink?" Magnus asks as Alec covers his hand with his own.

"You trust me to get it?"

Magnus smiles at the thought of the two of them covered in whatever drink Alec conjures through from the various choices they have in the kitchen, and shakes his head. "Perhaps this time I—"

"I'm not _that_ tired—"

"But still—"

Magnus screws his eyes up and laughs at the tinkling of glass he hears in the kitchen along with Alec's frustrated _dammit_ for knowing the glasses he's tried to pick up are now shattered over the floor.

"Alexander. You know that when you are tired—"

"I know, I know," Alec says with a groan, beginning to drag himself to his feet.

"Where are you going?"

"To clean up that glass," Alec replies, squeezing Magnus knee.

Magnus reaches out to keep him in place then snaps his fingers, willing the kitchen floor clean. Then snaps them again for two cocktails that he'd seen in a bar they had passed earlier, far too tired to make his own.

"Thanks, Magnus," Alec says with a sigh as he leans forward for the glasses appearing on the table, sitting back to push one into Magnus' hand.

"Be patient with yourself," he says, smiling as Alec fights back a scowl.

"I'm trying."

Magnus doesn't agree, but doesn't say anything, instead squeezes his thigh again and drops his head on Alec's shoulder. But as he rests his glass against his knee Magnus feels a slight sharp pain at the back of his ankle, and shifts again to inspect it.

"You okay?"

"I think so," Magnus says, moving just enough to hook his leg over his knee to inspect his foot. There is no swelling there, or redness that might indicate a problem, though his feet are a little dusty from where they've been walking so much.

"What is it?" Alec says, squeezing over his foot.

"The back, here, is just a little tender."

Alec hums, pushes his glass on to the table then nudges Magnus to move a little so he can take his foot in his lap. "That path we took up to the second temple, we both stumbled a little. Maybe you caught it then."

Magnus tucks his other foot beneath him so he can turn more comfortably, and smiles at the gentle pinch of Alec's thumb and finger over the base of his Achilles. "Maybe."

"I think we need an hour in that hot tub in a little while," Alec says, carefully checking over his ankle and monitoring Magnus' face for any sign of pain.

"That sounds wonderful," Magnus agrees, wincing and jolting his foot back as Alec finds a sore point.

"Here?"

"Yes," Magnus says as Alec presses again a little softer, and watches as he squeezes and massages his foot.

"Maybe take a shower, first, clean up a little. Then sit out there and just… do nothing else at all. Rest this foot," Alec adds as he rests his hand over it.

"That sounds perfect."

"Maybe in a little while," Alec says, leaning in to kiss Magnus as he squeezes over his calf. "Let's just sit here for a little longer."

Magnus hums in agreement, lazily summoning their cocktails into their hands, and smiling tiredly over the top of his as Alec drinks.

* * *

Alec arches as Magnus slides into him, splaying his thighs wider, then gripping his ass and grinding up on him with a long, deep groan.

"Better."

Magnus laughs as he adjusts on his hands and knees bending to nip at his earlobe, straightening up enough to look down at Alec and smile. "I'm very sorry to have kept you waiting."

"No. You're not," Alec replies, spreading his hands wider and rolling his hips up again.

"You didn't seem to be complaining."

"I wasn't. I just needed you in me. Magnus, you've been making me wait for _hours_."

"I don't know about _hours_ ," Magnus retorts, with a deliberately slow withdraw from him, groaning as they both turn to watch him slip back inside.

"Feels like it."

"Worth the wait?"

Alec answers only with a dragged out groan for the stir of Magnus' hips that results in glancing over his prostate.

"Was that a _yes_?"

Alec groans again, arching up as Magnus drives into him with a shallow thrust in the same spot, nipping at his jaw for the pleasured ache it puts in his gut.

"I could do this to you for hours," he teases, savoring every noise spilling from Alec's mouth, and focusing on the heat of Alec engulfing him.

"I wouldn't mind."

"No, I suppose you wouldn't."

"You feel amazing," Alec says, slipping his hands from his ass to sweep up over his back, then wrapping his legs high around his waist.

"Oh, Alec," Magnus manages to blurt out for the tighter, deeper angle, hiding his face in Alec's neck and mouthing over it, smiling for Alec's moan.

"S'good."

Magnus loves Alec like this, blissful and incoherent, thinking only of his pleasure and giving himself over to Magnus entirely. He teases him with a sharp snap of his hips and swallows Alec's answering moan, keeping eye contact as he does it again until Alec's eyes flutter closed, lips parted and accepting kisses even if he's too out of it to kiss back.

Reaching back to grip Alec's thighs Magnus adjusts a little more on his knees, straightening up so he can drive into him deeper. Alec's hands fall to the bed, prone and arching for every strike until Magnus topples forward into his neck.

Alec's hands are in his hair and tugging, pulling him up into a kiss with a slide of tongue for every thrust into him, stifling his own moan.

"I really did keep you waiting," Magnus teases for the whine spilling from Alec's lips when he slows, kissing him in reassurance as Alec grabs his ass and urges him harder into him.

"Magnus," Alec calls out desperately, nudging Magnus up enough so he can get a hand on himself.

Magnus raises up enough so he can watch Alec, trying to time his driving into him with every pull, and failing for how good it feels. He holds Alec's gaze, slamming into him chasing that heat racing through his core, stealing a kiss in the few seconds he's able to before the urge to be deeper in Alec takes over him again.

When he crests Magnus grinds into Alec calling out, dropping his head forward and watching Alec's hand speeding up before he spills over his knuckles and chest.

"Well. So much for doing this all day," Alec teases once he's sucked in a couple of breaths, though his words still come out mumbled, his knees falling wider apart as he all but melts into the bed.

"We have all day. There's nothing stopping us staying here."

"We don't even need to move for food, or anything," Alec says, raising a lazy hand up to squeeze over Magnus' shoulder as he stirs his hips and braces better against the bed.

"Are you wanting us to abuse our warlock powers for our own, personal gain?" Magnus teases.

"No. Just yours," Alec retorts, raising his hand up to show the magic spilling out of it looks just as exhausted as he does.

Magnus snorts against his own arm, slowly withdrawing himself from Alec and snapping his fingers to clean them up, then tangling their hands together as he falls to Alec's side.

* * *

"I just wanna stop here."

Magnus stumbles back at the tug on his fingers, turning carefully so he doesn't bump into the other occupants of the market they are in, and looks in the direction Alec is nodding. He smiles in agreement, and the two of them navigate their way through the crowd, their hands already laden with purchases that Magnus can't wait to put down.

"Boxes?" he says as Alec stops him in front of a stall, and Magnus sweeps his eyes over the hand-carved boxes of various shapes and sizes on offer.

There is a man sat behind the stall with his chair at an angle keeping up a constant stream of commentary with a boy Magnus can only assume is his son. His hands never stop moving, carving and sanding, creating the most intricate of designs on what looks like an ordinary piece of wood.

"Yeah," Alec says, smoothing his finger over the edge of one of the boxes nearest when the man serving, who Magnus is placing in his early twenties, nods to say it's okay.

"Well. Not that I have any objections or am one to talk, but why do you think we need yet another box? Our apartment is filled with them."

"I want another one, though," Alec says, nudging against his side, "for us. For _this_."

"This?"

"Magnus," Alec says with a smile, nudging them back slightly just in case anyone who might overhear them speaks English, "for our honeymoon."

"I don't—"

"Remember _George_?" Alec says with a slight arch to his voice, though Magnus is quick to reassure himself that it's in tease for the smile Alec is giving him.

"I do," he says cautiously anyway, not ashamed of any of his past yet still not wanting to bring up something that might result in a disagreement. Not now, not here in this market, and especially not on their honeymoon.

"Remember that box with all the stuff you keep with from all the people you've loved? That I threatened to put an arrowhead in?"

"And a spatula. A mug. A t-shirt; anything you could taunt me with for almost a full month after you looked in that box," Magnus replies, smiling because Alec is blushing and nodding his head.

"Exactly. _That_ box."

"So—"

" _I_ want a memento box," Alec says, leaning in to kiss him. "Not for other people, or… not yet, anyway."

Magnus thinks he sees a tiny spark of sadness in Alec's eyes, has to believe he is thinking of his family, and wraps him up in an awkward hug. Alec presses his chin into his shoulder since he doesn't have much space to hug him back with how busy the market is, and kisses him on the cheek before pulling back.

"I just thought, it'd be nice. I've collected shells, and rocks, and… menus. Maps. Stuff like that. I just wanted a memento box of our honeymoon, that we can fill with other stuff maybe over… well. _Centuries_ ," he says in a stage whisper that makes Magnus grin.

Alec is more sentimental than Magnus would ever have imagined. When he left the Institute as its Head he came home with a box full of memories, from drawings of Max's he hadn't already brought home, to messages on napkins from Magnus himself when he'd sent him coffee on busy afternoons. The idea of Alec wanting to keep a box of things from their honeymoon sends an affectionate warmth through Magnus' chest, and if it wasn't for how they keep being jostled by all the people passing, he would kiss Alec right here until his smile was less in danger of splitting.

"Which one do you think?" he says instead, nodding towards that stall.

Alec turns a little more and picks one out that Magnus assumes he already had his eye on. "This one."

The box is roughly the size of a letter-size notepad and about four inches deep. There is a simple pattern carved into it over the sides and lid, and when Alec lifts the lid up it reveals thick, solid walls, with plenty of space inside for all the trinkets he has been collecting.

"It's perfect," Magnus says, getting the attention of the stallholder. Pretending not to notice as Alec does what he always does when he speaks other languages; staring at him intently throughout the entire transaction as though he is trying to figure out every word.

"Thank you," Alec says as the box is handed to him, tucking it under an arm as he leans in for another kiss.

"There is a beach we haven't visited here yet that I am sure we can find a suitable pebble, or even collect a small sample of sand from, for a memory from here," Magnus suggests, carefully turning around so they can make their way back out into the stream of people passing by.

"Perfect," Alec agrees, adjusting the bags in his hand until he can hold Magnus', then nodding for Magnus to lead him through the crowd.

* * *


	8. Paris

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>  
> 
>   
> 
> 
> * * *

"We're gonna have so many bags to unpack when we get back home," Alec says as he sinks into the couch in their hotel room and watches Magnus send everything they've just bought back to New York.

"It will serve as a reminder of our time away," Magnus replies sending one final bag away with an extra flourish before sinking down beside him with a relieved groan.

"Yeah," Alec laughs, rolling just enough to press his head into Magnus' shoulder, "it'll be, _hey Magnus, where did we buy these pants_? And _hey, Magnus, I don't remember choosing that color_."

"Or, _Alexander, where are we going to display this vintage ornamental tiger_?"

"One day, I think we're gonna need a house somewhere just to put all the things we've bought from this trip."

"We talked about buying a holiday home," Magnus points out, pressing a kiss to the top of Alec's head. "We are simply buying things now to decorate when that eventually happens."

"I guess," Alec replies, and Magnus hears the amusement in his voice so turns enough to wrap his arms around him, lightly tickling his sides in tease.

"Have you had any more thought about where we should buy a holiday home?" he asks, smiling as Alec wriggles against his fingertips and tries to get more comfortable.

"That place in Bali was nice. But would that… I mean, considering where it is—"

"If you are worried about it bringing back memories of my childhood being in that area, there is no need. The memories I will be making there with you should we choose somewhere there will be entirely different—and good ones."

Alec nods against him, and Magnus doesn't need to look to know he's thinking. He sweeps a hand down Alec's back to cradle him closer, waiting for him to talk.

"Magnus. You… you do have _some_ good memories of your childhood, don't you? I mean… I know after your mom and everything, it was… I can't even imagine how terrified you must have been."

Magnus closes his eyes as Alec kisses his way up his neck and holds him tight as though he can love away any of those bad memories. "Some, yes."

"You… you feel like telling me, or—"

"Some of those were with my mother," Magnus continues, swallowing with difficulty, "and, though I am loathe to admit it, there are a few that I remember with my father as well."

Alec pulls back to look at him, pressing a hand to his chest and hooking a finger over his top button as he stares at him. "Magnus. He… he took care of you when you were all alone, and… you have nothing to be ashamed of."

A wash of memories he _is_ ashamed of come back to Magnus from his time with Asmodeus, and he doesn't quite paste a smile on his face quick enough for Alec not to notice. "Alexander—"

"I love you. All of you. Whatever you've been through, or done. You were just a kid. And I don't care," he continues, stopping Magnus before he can interrupt, "that you maybe had a lot—a _lot_ to learn about Asmodeus before you realized not everything you were doing was… okay."

"I cannot blame him for all of my… I managed to cause enough problems, do enough wrong in this world, without his influence, long after I banished him to Edom."

More memories blast at Magnus hard enough to make him wince. But Alec is there like always, kissing over his face and holding on tightly until Magnus can crack his eyes open and look at him.

"No one's perfect. No one; none of us have ever done everything that's right."

"True—"

"Sometimes I wake up from a bad dream of what I almost let happen to Meliorn," Alec adds as he clenches his jaw. "Or what… Magnus. I've made some decisions that I can't ever take back. That have done… that have been damaging. Not just to _me_ , but to people around me. People I care about. Does that make me a bad person?"

"Of course not," Magnus replies and knows he's answered too quickly, because Alec's smile is triumphant.

"Then, you don't get to think _you_ are," he says, kissing him on the end of the nose before nuzzling against it.

Magnus wants to say something about being the child of a Prince of Hell being far different than being born into a world of biased privilege as a Shadowhunter, but doesn't think Alec will let the argument stick. So he nods, cradles Alec's face and indulges in kissing him for a few minutes. Dropping their foreheads together as he thinks of what he wants to say.

"My father once… we once spent almost an entire year going from festival to festival across the world."

"Festival?" Alec repeats, confusion in the smile he gives him.

"Well. Perhaps not festivals as we are used to today. But… celebrations across the world. Chun Jie in Beijing, and… others I don't remember the name of now."

"And it was… fun?"

"It was," Magnus replies, smiling for recalled images of music, and dancing, and more food than he'd seen at the time since his mother had been alive. "It was so much bigger than the life I had known. And everyone revered my father so much that I… well, at times, I am sure my manners were little more than those of a spoilt little prince."

"It isn't fair Mom can tease me by showing you all the photos of me growing up, and I don't get to see a single one of yours," Alec says, leaning in for a kiss and smiling, knowing the exact words to keep Magnus' thoughts from spiraling too much.

"I promise that the next time she tries to embarrass you with a photo album, I will show you some of my childhood memories," he says, tapping at his forehead. "And there are, I'm sure, portraits of me in various places that I've long forgotten about. Or at least tried to."

"I can imagine you being a photogenic child," Alec teases, "and all the clothes you would have worn."

"I don't think I truly showed any interest in fashion the way I do now until I was older and in France on my own for the first time, but yes. I suppose Asmodeus did have some influence on my… choice of clothing."

"Tell me something about your mom," Alec asks softly, again knowing the perfect moment to change the subject.

It takes Magnus a few moments to adjust to the blasts of images he gets for allowing himself to think of his mother, remembering kind eyes and a sweet smile, and the love she had once had for him.

"My mother was… playful, and joyous. She would turn the least interesting of chores, or tasks, into a game. Once, when we were walking home, and I was complaining about being tired and hungry, she distracted me by turning the walk into a song."

"A song?"

"Yes," Magnus smiles, closing his eyes to picture her clearer, "every person we passed, or if we saw a dog, or some kind of flower, she would sing about it to make me forget. I think it took us twice as long to get home because I kept pointing out new things for her to sing about. She was… wonderful."

"I kind of wish I could have met her," Alec says, his thumb pressing a gentle circle into Magnus' bicep as though he's trying to soothe him.

"I'm certain she would have liked you," Magnus says automatically, thinking of earlier times than the revelation that his cat eyes had brought.

"I hope so. I hope she would at least see how much I love her son. And that… anything else, it doesn't matter," Alec adds, kissing over his eyes. "That you're… that whatever else has happened, that her son grew up to be a great man. One she could be so, so proud of."

Alec always knows just where to get him, what words to say to leave him speechless, or the things that, at that moment, he really needs to hear. Magnus is now picturing his unaged mother standing in a kitchen somewhere, fussing over Alec and looking at him with a proud smile. The sting of her being gone, and the reminders of all the things he's done wrong in his life are still present, and vivid when he thinks of them. But with the love on Alec's face and the warmth of being held in his arms, Magnus can let himself think of the happier memories he has.

"I love you," Alec whispers, playing with his shirt buttons and the chains against his chest as he leans in to kiss him.

Magnus sighs as he answers, dropping his forehead against Alec's and closing his eyes.

"Tell me some more about your mom," Alec adds with gentle encouragement, his thumb swirling against Magnus' skin until he is ready to talk.

* * *

Alec's thumbs are pressing warm circles into Magnus' back beneath his shirt, nudging and encouraging him to move a little closer. Magnus wriggles in his lap and smiles against Alec's lips for the noise he makes for it, crossing his forearms behind Alec's head as he leans in to kiss him again.

"You know, Alexander, that from here it would be almost impossible for anyone to see us were they to look up."

Alec pulls back, takes a quick glance at the sprawling park their hotel room looks over, and then back at Magnus with a widening smile. "You're probably right. What are you suggesting?"

Magnus hums instead of answering, leaning back so he has space to get his hands beneath Alec's shirt, pushing it up so he knows he means to take it off. Alec watches as Magnus tosses it to the side and laughs, taking a deliberately longer time to do the same to Magnus' shirt. And then his hands are everywhere, smoothing over his back and exploring his chest, before he's pulling Magnus closer again and pressing them together. Magnus writhes in his lap, chasing Alec's mouth for a deeper kiss as Alec grabs his hips and grinds against him.

"Maybe they'll still hear us," he teases as he ducks to mouth over a spot behind Magnus' ear that Magnus closes his eyes for and bites his lip at the heat it sends surging through him.

"Perhaps," Magnus agrees, smiling for the expression now on Alec's face that says nothing but _challenge_.

"Then, we'll need these off," Alec says, pinching at Magnus' pants before working open his button and fly.

"Yes, that might help," Magnus agrees, snapping his fingers and laughing as Alec jolts for them both being suddenly naked.

"I need to learn how to do that," Alec says as he looks down at them, but then is sweeping his hands over Magnus' thighs and dipping his thumbs between to stroke over his cock.

"Yes. You do."

Magnus shuffles back enough to have room to get his hands on Alec, stroking his hand in a long sweep down his stomach before wrapping around his length. They both look down, watching their hands on one another as they thicken, before a swell of heat raises in Magnus' core and he has to kiss him, cupping the back of his head for Alec to know to look up.

Their kiss is sloppy, a continuation of what they had started about an hour ago when they had come out on to this balcony to enjoy the sun, when their intentions had been a little more innocent. But Alec's hands are everywhere, and he's pulling Magnus close again, angling so he can stroke them together in the tight grip of his fingers.

"You staying there?" Alec asks, his voice a little deeper, as he slides a hand over his ass and strokes between his cheeks.

Magnus hums against his mouth and nods, closing his eyes at the feel of Alec spreading his cheeks apart, before circling a fingertip over his hole.

"How do you… Magnus, how do you… you know."

There is something so endearing about Alec like this, Magnus thinks as he laughs softly to himself and ducks to kiss over the blush of his cheeks. Alec has one hand still firmly stroking them over as he teases at his hole, yet there is _shyness_ in his voice that Magnus can't wait to work out the source of. Once he's put a little more blush on his cheeks, of course.

"How do I what?" Magnus says, slotting his fingers between Alec's to stroke, smearing the precum they're both spilling over them and adjusting his grip.

"You know."

"If I knew, I wouldn't ask," Magnus replies, lapping into Alec's mouth and closing his eyes again for his little intake of breath.

"How do you… when we need… _Magnus_ ," Alec says then with a burst of frustrated laughter, and to emphasize what he's wanting to say, presses a little more insistently against Magnus' hole.

"Tell me."

"I… _need_ something," Alec says as Magnus pulls way mid-kiss leaving him chasing his lips.

"Oh?" Magnus replies with an arch to his voice, writhing a little more in his lap.

" _Magnus_ —"

"If you're asking how I do _this_ ," he says, snapping his fingers then holding them up for Alec to see them glistening with lube, "then, like everything, it just takes a little practice."

"Mag—"

Magnus wraps his hand back around them together, and the slickness of the lube silences them both for a moment, losing themselves to the growing heat building in them both.

" _That_ ," Alec says as he pulls back. "I need to know how to do that."

"The same way you have been learning to summon everything else."

"Yeah, but… everything else was… this is a… how do I get it out of the bottle?" Alec asks a little more insistently.

"You could always just call the bottle here—"

"I don't want—"

"Then just… imagine what is _in_ the bottle itself," Magnus suggests, rocking a little more into their joined hands for how good they feel sliding together.

Alec's huff of frustration tells Magnus he doesn't think he can, and Magnus bats his hands away to take over stroking them by himself so he can concentrate. Alec nods, though instead trails his fingers over Magnus' chest distractedly, before shaking his head, leaning in for a kiss, and squaring his shoulders in determination.

Magnus tucks his head into Alec's neck immediately for the way Alec wriggles his fingers mid-air, trying not to laugh for it.

"That's not helping, Magnus."

Magnus buries his head in deeper to hide his snort, shaking his head there as he feels Alec's forearm pressed against his side, and knows he's making the same gesture again.

"Mag—"

"Alexander," Magnus says, sitting up quickly and peppering kisses over his face, "you just need to think of what it is you want."

"I _want_ … you know what I want," Alec retorts, flaring his fingers for Magnus to look.

"Yes. But _why_ do you want that?"

"I… because."

"Because, what?" Magnus insists, wrapping his hand back around them to lazily stroke.

He watches Alec's eyes flutter closed, and his lower lip as he bites it when Magnus swirls his thumb over his cock head.

"I want… I need it so I can… because I need to get you… _ready_ ," Alec says, stuttering and stumbling and still blushing adorably, even as he arches into Magnus' hand.

" _For_?"

"So I can… so you can… so I can be _in_ you," Alec blurts out, his voice dropping a little more. "So you can sit here and… I want you to… right here."

Magnus smiles in triumph and kisses him harder. "Well, if that is what you _want_ , then you should think about that. It will help you focus to help you get what you need _here_."

Alec looks as Magnus squeezes around his fingers then back at his face, and that determined glint is in his eye yet again. Magnus keeps their eye contact as Alec lifts his head more confidently, staring back at him hard. Alec snaps his fingers, and Magnus doesn't need to check it's worked for the smile that's creeping over his face.

"Alex—"

Magnus drops his forehead on Alec's shoulder as he reaches behind him for the insistent slide of his finger, stuttering as Alec works another into him almost immediately in his hurry to open him up. Magnus has to drop his grip on them to steady himself as Alec twists and angles his wrist seeking out his prostate, then massages it in the firm, wide circle he knows Magnus likes.

Magnus calls out for it, clinging on tightly as Alec scissors his fingers apart, then plunges his fingers into him repeatedly, pulling Magnus against him so it's easier for him to reach. And then he's pushing Magnus away, balancing him almost on his knees as he splays them, grabbing on to Magnus' thigh to keep him in place.

"I—"

Alec silences him with a kiss, snapping his fingers once again, and Magnus moans against his mouth for the slicked up grip around his cock. He grips hard to Alec's shoulders as Alec spreads his legs a little more leaving Magnus feeling exposed, his stomach jolting in anticipation for it.

"You like this," Alec teases as he drops his grip on Magnus' cock to trail his fingers through the hair at his base, before working his fingers back into him. "You like it when you can't move all that much."

Magnus nods rapidly in agreement, keening for the stab of pleasure Alec sends through him as he twists his fingers inside him in the exact spot he knows is good. Magnus tries to writhe down for more of it, and the fact that he can't sends a fresh wave of heat through him leaving him whining and wriggling in Alec's lap, barely conscious of the noise he's making.

"Are you ready?" Alec asks, teasing him again with another firm circle over his prostate, laughing as Magnus nods rapidly and tries to shuffle forward.

Alec closes his legs and pulls Magnus closer, hands wide and spreading his cheeks apart as he stands. Magnus sinks down on him immediately, hands braced wide on Alec's shoulders and gripping there as he fills him, groaning once he's all the way inside.

"Better?"

"Much," Magnus agrees, bracing his feet a little further against the floor for the perfect leverage as he begins to roll his hips.

Alec hums, spreading his hands wide at his hips to guide him, claiming kisses as he moves.

* * *

"You need to pull your left arm back a little more. A little more, Alexander. Think of this as… building up a charge."

Alec raises an eyebrow at him in doubt and adjusts his feet, raising his right arm up in an arc as he draws an _S_ shape in the air with his left hand and pulls it back. "Like this?"

"Yes. And now just… think about the ward you are trying to make."

It's a little ambitious. But Alec was insistent, and Magnus couldn't resist the pleading in his voice accompanied by the sweet, insistent kisses over his shoulder, asking that they at least try.

"Like this?" Alec asks sounding doubtful, and he has reason to.

The magic beginning to spill from his palms is stuttering and sparking, and the thin vapory ward he's forming patchy and uneven.

"More like this," Magnus says, stepping behind him and pressing against his back.

He rests one hand on Alec's stomach and urges him straighter, then reaches out to mold Alec's hand to form the shape he needs.

"And now?"

"Like this," Magnus says, a light grip around Alec's wrist as he urges him to jolt back his hand.

Alec shoves his hand forward, the heel of it first, sending his magic ricocheting between the ceiling, floors, and walls, and both of them having to duck as it blasts over the top of his head. "Maybe not like that, huh?"

"You are doing an amazing job, Alec. I promise you."

"It doesn't feel like it," Alec mumbles, petulant even when he turns in Magnus' waiting arms.

"Believe me. You're doing great."

"I guess it's not like I _need_ wards right now."

"No. But even so, you will perfect this—in time."

"So if I practice this every day, like I did with my bow, you think I'll… how—"

"Alexander," Magnus says, barely holding in his laugh for the impatience Alec is trying to conceal. "You—"

"I don't wanna go back and have… learned nothing by then."

Magnus nods, imagining excitement from Izzy wanting to see what Alec can now do, and teasing from Jace for what he can't. It's not a surprise now that the end of their honeymoon is looming closer that Alec is trying to be the best he can.

"You've learned all sorts of things already," he points out. "Don't be so hard on yourself."

Alec sighs, dropping his head forward to nudge against Magnus' shoulder, then looking up again with a rueful smile. "Am I being horrible?"

"You're being _impatient_. And adorable with it," Magnus counters, smiling when Alec's cheeks light up with blush. "And we'll deal with this. Together. Neither of us needs to be in any hurry with this. Considering how little time you have spent practicing—how long you have been like this—"

" _Immortal_ ," Alec says, the word coming out full of incredulity like he still can't believe it's a word that describes him now.

"Yes. Immortal."

Magnus knows it's going to take a while to believe it for himself, even after this long period of having time to adjust to it. Every time he gets a glimpse of Alec's magic, or remembers he won't have to watch him age or leave him behind, a warm pressure begins to build in his core that blooms up through his chest and clenches in his throat as excitement.

Magnus is sure despite how much he loves Alec, how long he's loved him and how happy being with him he's been, that he has never smiled as much as he has since they finalized Alec's ceremonies. And that Alec knows what he's thinking, is smiling at him as though he's reading his mind, feels to Magnus like the icing on the cake.

"I'm gonna be with you, forever," Alec says, trying to make it ominous-sounding when his voice comes out nothing but gleeful.

For every person he's ever loved and lost, there will always be a special place in Magnus' heart. But Alec, Alec is something different, their love is something unique. Because Alec has chosen to stay with him, chosen Magnus above anything else. And Magnus can love him back freely, and openly, never fearing that he will have to lose him one day. It is both a powerful and humbling feeling, one Magnus promises both himself and Alec that he will never grow complacent with.

Magnus reaches out for Alec's hand to hold up against his own, slotting their fingers together and squeezing around his wedding band. "Yes, Alexander. You are."

* * *

Magnus walks out of the bathroom ducking back just in time when a shirt goes sailing through the air in front of him as Alec tries to pack.

"I hate packing," Alec says, though his voice is tinged with delight.

They both watch as the shirt flutters to a stop on the end of the bed, before Alec reaches out to fold it up and slot into his bag.

"Is that the last one?"

Magnus sinks down on to the bed beside Alec after adding his toiletries to his own bag, casting a glance around their hotel room to make sure they haven't left anything behind.

"I think so," Alec says, doing the same thing himself, and when he's finished turns back to Magnus, kissing his shoulder and dropping his chin there. "Is it selfish that I… really don't feel like going back?"

"Just the sign of a very good vacation. And I confess, I am in no hurry to return myself."

"Yeah. But we sort of have to, right?"

That there's even an element of question in Alec's words is surprising to Magnus, and he reaches up to slot his fingers through the back of his hair, encouraging him to look up.

"Well. I suppose we _don't_ , but. Neither you or I would be comfortable just… abandoning our duties, family, and friends."

"No. No, we couldn't do that."

"But we can start planning our next vacation. Or even begin thinking about that holiday home we keep talking about."

"Both things," Alec says, leaning in for a kiss, and raising his hands to cup Magnus' face to keep him in place. "I mean, I am looking forward to _seeing_ everyone."

"Yes, as am I."

"I just… Magnus. This is the longest vacation I've ever taken. I really don't want it to end."

Magnus could remind Alec of how hard they both worked before leaving so they could take this extended break together. He could point out all the sleepless nights they had working while planning their wedding and preparing Alec for his immortality ceremonies. And he could repeat the words of just about everyone telling them both how much they deserved this time away. But he doesn't, knowing Alec can probably guess everything he would say to him anyway. Instead, he pushes Alec back just enough so he can straddle his lap, smiling as Alec leans back a little to get comfortable before gripping around his waist.

"We don't even know what we're going back to," Alec adds, sneaking his thumbs beneath Magnus' shirt. "Everyone's just asked for pictures, or asked how we were doing. They haven't told us a single thing."

"I'm sure they would have told us if there was anything urgent they needed to deal with," Magnus tells him, knowing that they wouldn't have been left totally in the dark if they were going back to anything catastrophic.

"Yeah, I know. And we did ask them to just… not tell us unless there was anything important."

Magnus kisses him on the forehead and smiles there, knowing how difficult it was for Alec to insist that they were undisturbed. "We did."

"And we've got two whole days when we get back before we even need to think about work," Alec adds, because they built that into their vacation time, knowing they'd want some time to rest before going back to their old routines—or in Alec's case, beginning a new one.

They still don't really know how much this advisory role will involve for Alec at the Institute, and have already discussed other things he can do if it turns out to not be what he wants. It's going to be a learning curve for them both, and everyone around them. Magnus is excited to learn what their lives are going to look like, how different it will feel to go about their day to day, but being _married_ for it.

"One day at a time," Magnus says, because that is all they can do at the moment. Alec's magic is getting stronger, yet he's got months, possibly years before he fully has it under control.

Magnus doesn't even know what his own work will involve when he returns to it. Whether he'll be chosen to be High Warlock of Brooklyn again, or be put forward for a neighboring role—or even going back to a normal routine of clients and potions—is still up in the air. At the moment he doesn't feel like he has a preference, but Magnus knows that could be the sadness he always gets at the end of a vacation talking.

And this isn't any ordinary vacation, he thinks, smiling as he pulls Alec into a hug and drops his head against his shoulder. This is their honeymoon, an event Magnus never imagined he'd get to experience, a celebration of a commitment to someone that he'd always thought he was destined to go without. It's not a vacation he can just let drift into residual memory. This is something he intends to cherish, even drive their friends and family crazy with by talking about it and showing photos from it until they start avoiding the word _vacation_ to stop him setting off again.

"We should… do you think we have time for… I don't know. Maybe one final walk or something before we go back?" Alec asks, squeezing his hips and looking up at Magnus in hope when he sits up to look at him, adjusting on Alec's lap.

Magnus holds on to Alec's shoulders as he stands, conjuring magic that sends their remaining bags back to their apartment, then pulls Alec to his feet and leans against his chest. Alec takes and raises Magnus' hand to kiss the back of, playing with Magnus' wedding band before slotting their fingers together, and nodding towards the bedroom door.

"We have all the time in the world," Magnus tells him, tilting his chin up for one more kiss, and echoing Alec's smile.

* * *


	9. Epilogue: Back in New York

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>  
> 
>   
> 
> 
> * * *

They have been back in New York for two weeks. It feels strange to Magnus that despite being away for three months, these weeks back in their normal lives seem far longer than the entire time they were away. Perhaps it's not so strange, Magnus amends to himself, smiling at the new addition to his apothecary desk, which is a framed photo of the two of them on a beach in Porto. Perhaps that's how all vacations end, no matter what the occasion. Never seeming long enough when having to return to work.

His client list is already overflowing, and there are numerous meetings set up to discuss the possibility of him returning to a High Warlock role. Whether Brooklyn, Manhattan, or Queens is as yet undecided; apparently in his absence, the warlocks of New York have missed his leadership. Perhaps in the past, Magnus would feel a little smug about it, but Alec's pride and excitement for him is enough to leave him humble instead, as well as secretly touched.

All in good time though, he reminds himself, taking a sip of his tea as he adds the last ingredients to a potion that needs steeping for a few hours. Alec's adjustment to his new position in the Institute is going to be a slow one, and Magnus intends to pour as much of his energy as he can into supporting Alec through it. 

They've spent these last two weeks catching up with everyone and their news, and now that the dust has settled from so many greetings, Alec is trying hard to make the role something that can truly make all the difference that he wants to see in the Shadow World. His husband is _ambitious_ , Magnus thinks with a smile, straightening up the photo frame as he absently plays with his wedding ring, then catches himself doing it and laughing. 

Magnus' phone beeps then, and he abandons the work he was thinking about starting ready to organize whatever lunch Alec wants, since they're spending it together in the nearest park. 

_"How soon can we go on vacation again?_ " reads Alec's message as a caption to go with the stack of paperwork on his desk.

_"How about this weekend?"_ Magnus writes back. _"We do have a holiday home to find, after all."_

The message that comes back is nothing but a string of emojis that leave Magnus throwing his head back in laughter, and is followed by a request for lunch.

Magnus stands and stretches, grabs up the picnic blanket and bag he's already packed with essentials, gives himself the once over in a mirror, and makes his way to the Institute.


End file.
